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Political Consultant Mary Matalin Discusses Young Americans' Political Optimism
Political consultant and EHS parent also talked about her time at the White House during Sept. 11.
Mary Matalin, a political consultant and current EHS parent, spoke at the Washington Program’s Brown Bag Lunch on April 19. She shared photos of her time as an assistant to former Vice President Dick Cheney and discussed the political outlook of young American first- and second-time voters.
Matalin calls them the Snapchat Generation—Americans ages 18-26 who are being heralded as the most influential generation behind the Baby Boomers—but says that they are surrounded by much chaos and debt, which she described as “bricks in their backpack.” Yet despite these obstacles, Matalin says the Snapchat Generation is “all about hope and idealism that is peculiar to young people.”
She argues that while young Americans increasingly see a polarized political worldview, the Founding Fathers intended for a cooperative bipartisanship since the beginning.
“Nobody wanted parties. Thomas Jefferson famously said, ‘If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all.’”
Matalin acknowledges that politicians cannot compromise on the bigger issues that they value, but that lack of compromise has led the U.S. into record debt.
“Children today are born $100,000 in debt. That’s just at birth. It’s unsustainable,” she says. “The degradation of trust in institutions contributes to parties not getting along.”
Matalin says the point of bipartisanship legislature is that conflicting interest is good. If young people can understand that, she says, then don’t fix what isn’t broken.
As a mother, Matalin realized that she needed to fix the disparity in her work-life balance. She shared photos from the events during and after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when she was in close quarters with Vice President Dick Cheney and other White House officials. After 9/11, Matalin was sent to the Middle East, where she was one of the only women in the ensemble. Meanwhile, her husband was the only parent at home with their two daughters. One day, he called her to ask for help. The girls’ hamsters died and he didn’t know what to do.
“I’m thinking, yeah sure I’ll be right over,” she quipped.
Matalin found it difficult to be away from her family for long periods of time, or even working long hours during the day when she was not traveling.
“One day I said to myself, ‘A great person can do my job. But nobody else can be a mother to my children.’”
Matalin knew that not everyone would understand her choice to leave her high-powered position for the sake of her family. However, she knew it was the right decision. While EHS students may be years away from career and family life, Matalin’s advice to still relates to any important decision: “Look in your heart and find your own way.”
