Sign Up For Our Newsletter

This week I had the pleasure of sitting down with my home district’s Congresswoman, Lois Capps, in my first ever encounter with a federal politician. I was prepared to be rushed in and out of her office just to shake her hand and get a quick picture taken, knowing the endless demand and limited supply of time that members of Congress face. Even if I could speak with her I assumed, since she made it to Congress, that she would meet every question with a calculated political response devoid of real substance to successfully eliminate any chance of deterring my future vote. I still cannot speak for the rest of our leaders on Capitol Hill, but Congresswoman Capps was an incredible surprise. Voted the nicest person in Congress, she distanced herself from the stereotypical conception of a ‘politician’ as she instead came across as a gentile, confident, and relatable woman.

I had arranged the meeting after finding myself lucky enough to have won the Capps Intern Scholarship—an award and grant provided each year to a UC Santa Barbara student interning in DC. Supporting UCSB students comes from a connection between the Congresswoman and the University that is stronger than a typical constituent base. The former nurse came to represent the district through a special election when her husband, Walter H. Capps, a thirty year Professor of Religious Studies at UCSB, suddenly and tragically passed away nine months after his entry to the House of Representatives. Having received a Masters Degree in Education at UCSB herself, and representing Santa Barbara County for an impressive 15 years and counting, the connection to the community of students has never faltered. Also, it certainly does not hurt that after her intense grassroots movement to register voters, UCSB became a college known for having the highest voter turnout of any school in the country.

As one of those college students, up to my neck in tuition payments, I wanted to go in person to extend my deepest gratitude for the gesture of support. But getting the chance to actually have a one-on-one meeting to candidly talk and get to know the Congresswoman was a treat that I will remember forever. She was unafraid to joke about her frustration over spending so much of her career in the minority party, the ridiculous gerrymandering she had been subject to, and the general ineptitude of the institution that employs her. The Congresswoman’s ability to take issues seriously while retaining a light attitude was remarkable, and an important reminder that the common projection of evil onto all politicians may be slightly shortsighted. It was a refreshing reminder that the people working for the government are people just the same, and that everything that frustrates me about the system also frustrates its members. It is easy to forget but vital to remember that it is the system which is intentionally designed to produce gridlock and monitored vehemently by the media that produces the childish game of American politics—not always the players.

Ultimately it was truly a great experience getting to connect with Mrs. Capps. Not everyone gets the opportunity to sit down and have coffee with their representative, and I just feel fortunate to have had that chance.