Good luck Barry Jackson, or would you prefer “Good luck, my secret crush”?
The Washington Post today has a front page item on the negotiators behind the budget talks, Barry Jackson and David Krone.
While their principals fire rhetorical salvos, sometimes by the hour, Jackson and Krone have kept their channel clear of fiery politics. They’ve been negotiating for weeks, usually multiple times a day, in a tone associates described as respectful.
I always like to think that the heated rhetoric out there is mostly for the cameras but that behind the scenes once you get to the upper levels there really is a semblance of respect amongst politicians. Pelosi never could make me believe, but certainly John Boehner does. It’s nice to see that confirmed.
(the bold is mine)
“Barry just knows,” said Jackson confidant David Winston, a Republican pollster who advises Boehner. “He spends a lot of time understanding where individual members are and what they’re thinking. That’s just hard work. . . . The speaker isn’t just representing the speaker. He’s representing the House. And Barry knows it’s very important to make sure everybody feels that they’re heard.”
Oddly enough I’ve not been invited to a gourmet dinner party at Barry’s home. Hmmmm. (Maybe if I didn’t get all tongue tied around him?)
Jackson, who is single, lives on Capitol Hill and is a gourmet cook. He has small dinner parties at his home, once cooking up an Italian veal dish that Rove called “unbelievable.”
He shuns the spotlight, but friends cautioned that his soft-spokenness should not be misinterpreted.
“His intensity is inversely proportional to his volume,” said Republican strategist Chad Kolton, a former colleague.
Like Rove, Jackson can be as relentless in his preparation as he is ruthless in his execution, associates said.
“Barry thinks in three dimensions,” Kolton said. “He’s always working on multiple means by which to achieve his objective.”
He’s a good guy. Best of luck in the next few hours.
We are going to have to work on that tongue tied thing!! A single man who can cook and has a job??!!