Word: wonk
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Thompson's research led him to Doug Ross, founder of University Preparatory Academy in Detroit. Ross is a prominent New Democrat policy wonk who served in Bill Clinton's Labor Department, then went home to Michigan and ran unsuccessfully for Governor in 1998. "I learned during the campaign there was one overpowering issue for inner-city parents: to get their kids a college education," Ross told me. "I was tired of theoretical policy junk; I wanted to do something that really mattered. It was clear that urban kids were not responding to the industrial-age assembly-line education model...
...Thompson's research led him to Doug Ross, founder of University Preparatory Academy in Detroit. Ross is a prominent New Democrat policy wonk who served in Bill Clinton's Labor Department, then went home to Michigan and ran unsuccessfully for Governor in 1998. "I learned during the campaign there was one overpowering issue for inner-city parents: to get their kids a college education," Ross told me. "I was tired of theoretical policy junk; I wanted to do something that really mattered. It was clear that urban kids were not responding to the industrial-age assembly-line education model...
Gross helped introduce Clayburgh to the rough-and-tumble life of a math wonk, referring her to three female colleagues of his so she could get an idea of what it was like for a woman in academia. When she visited them, Gross says, the movie star was crestfallen to learn that female professors in the male-dominated field of math weren’t as confident and commanding as the role Bergstein had written...
...book's best chapters cover his wide-eyed first days on the job. He was installed in a quaint little office that used to be the White House barbershop, and soon enough he was kicking back watching Air Force One on Air Force One. He was in wonk heaven. "Being in the West Wing," he writes, "was like being in a turbocharged think tank that was also the ultimate political clubhouse that was also the office of the assignment editor for the nation's press." But it wasn't all fun and games. The night before he started...
...This is the sort of intellectual stubbornness that rarely makes an appearance in Washington today. Successful politicians, including, most recently, Bill Clinton, usually temper their sharp intelligence with an ability to communicate in populist terms. The policy wonk who lacks a light touch - think Al Gore or Paul Simon - is subject to attack by the popular press for what is perceived as snobbery, while our less intellectually engaged politicians - think George W. Bush or Tim Hutchinson - are lauded for their ability to connect with voters...