Back in March 2016, White House AAPI Initiative Deputy Director Jason Tengco received a call. It was from Hillary Clinton’s campaign HQ in New York, asking him to join the team. “I really thought about it for a quick second, and realized that this was the opportunity of a lifetime”, Jason told me.
Within two weeks, Jason, a big Hillary supporter since 2008, had quit his 120k+ salary job within the Obama administration, left his apartment in Columbia Heights DC, packed his luggage, and shipped off to Brooklyn. With his tight haircut, silver earrings, and tailored suit with a pocket square, Jason brought a little DC flair to the traditional Brooklyn hippie style, even though he traveled with a single suitcase and crashed on friends’ couches.
By April 4th 2016, Jason had settled into his job as Clinton’s AAPI Outreach Director, where he is in charge of rallying AAPI voters (6% of the US population).
Jason’s case is but one of a hundred common stories for young employees in Hillary’s HQ. They come from all walks of life, most with the clothes on their back and what can fit in a single suitcase. Their passion is what drives them. As Jason says, “Think about it. We’re helping to elect our first female POTUS!”
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Hillary chose Brooklyn Heights for her campaign HQ. Located in the 19 story, brown-façade “One Pierrepont Plaza”, it lies at the intersection of Clinton and Pierrepont. The lease has been signed since April 2015, and according to Politico, Hillary’s 80,000 square foot space goes for $3.2 million a year. Other tenants include Morgan Stanley, the New York Eastern District Attorney General’s Office, and various law firms.
Clinton’s press secretary Paola Ramos told Sina that the HQ began on the 11th floor, and as the team has continued to expand, they’ve taken over part of the 10th floor as well. There are currently 250 employeesassigned to more than a dozen different departments. The building is heavily guarded, and all visitors must be led by an employee to pass the front desk checkpoint, where identification must be provided, before access to the elevators is granted.
The 10th floor houses the core of the decision-making workforce. Communications, Research, Policy, Paid Media, Opinion Research, and Digital are all located here, along with key staffers’ offices. Among these key employees are Chairman John Podesta, Vice-Chairman HumaAbedin, Campaign Manager Robby Mook, and CAO Charlie Baker. Together, these teams are responsible for all emails, messaging, advertisement, press releases, and social media interaction coming out of Hillary’s camp.
Employees look young, mostly Jason’s age. As Jason said, “This life is extremely busy, around the clock.” He added that he thought it was much easier for younger people to adjust to this type of lifestyle. Curiously, Hillary herself doesn’t have a spot in the office, and only occasionally stops by for meetings. According to Politico, she spends the majority of her time in a separate rented office near Times Square in Manhattan, dubbed “Tower 45”.
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To reach the 11th floor, one must traverse a staircase decorated with blue and red “Team Hillary” banners. It is on the 11th floor that the centerpieces of the office can be found: the “H Wall”, the “American Flag Wall”, and an extensive supporters’ photo gallery.
The ambience of the 11th floor feels like a mixture of a startup incubator and a college dorm common area. Walls plastered with colored sticky notes and copy paper, and stacks of cardboard boxes transformed into standing desks. Posters hang above various areas of the office to denote different departments, complete with catchy slogans (personal favorites include “Tech: Git Out The Vote” and “Research: Let Me Google That For You”).
Young employees in t-shirts and jeans, many with hair highlights, wander between departments with their apple notebooks, or lounge on beanbag sofas for more comfort. When we walked closer to the Democratic Primary vote tally wall, Jason excitedly mentioned about their resounding success in his home state of California. The wall, with Hillary’s perched atop the tally, proudly displayed her 1812 votes to Sanders’ 1525.
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“Hillary does best in places where there’s diverse support,” said Jason, adding that the campaign HQ staff diversity reflects “Hillary’s America.” According to Paola Ramos, “35.1% of Hillary for America’s staff is diverse and 57% of our staff are women.”
“Her campaign is incredibly diverse, with lots of positive energy, just really passionate people,” Jason said. “I’ve always believed that’s how she is with her campaign events, and that’s how she wants to be with her administration,” he told me against a rainbow flag backdrop.
Jason also spoke about the experience of planning Hillary’s ‘bubble tea’ trip to Flushing, NY. “She’s very willing to try and listen to new ideas.” The 27 year old director kept on talking passionately about how Hillary will fight for comprehensive immigration reform, equality, women’s rights, carefully echoing his boss’ well-crafted campaign talking points.
We concluded the interview near Jason’s desk, adorned with cold coffee, half-eaten cupcakes, and charging cables. “Well, let’s not shoot here,” he said with a laugh.
Read the Chinese Version on Sina News:
http://news.sina.com.cn/w/zg/2016-06-28/doc-ifxtmweh2665032.shtml
