Survival guide for the Class of 2010

Survival guide for the Class of 2010

The author says he played music a few times a year, but otherwise spent his time working. | AP Photo

By: Joe Scarborough
November 16, 2010 04:39 AM EST

Sixteen years ago this week, I packed a rental truck and moved to Washington to start an incredible chapter in my life as the congressman from Florida’s 1st District. It is still hard to believe that I was lucky enough to begin that job as a 30-year-old who had never even set foot in a congressional office before I was sworn in. Looking back, I am still proud of what we accomplished. We defied expectations by balancing the budget, reforming welfare, paying down the national debt, cutting taxes and creating an environment that helped produce millions of jobs.

But borrowing from a certain House speaker’s book title, I also learned a few too many lessons the hard way. Today, with so many freshmen arriving in Washington under circumstances almost identical to those of 1994, I want to tell them what I wish someone had told me so long ago. So here it is:

1. PROTECT YOUR FAMILY

First things first: Guard your family. Congress is tough on all families, and yours will be no exception. Move your family to Washington now. Ignore conventional wisdom that says your spouse and children should be chained to your home district for political gain. It’s not worth it. Few good things come from being away from your spouse and children 200 nights a year, and, in the end, nothing you accomplish in Congress will be worth the moments you miss at home. Over time, the strains on a marriage can be bad. The sacrifices imposed on the entire family can be incalculable.

2. FOCUS ON YOUR LOCAL OFFICE

After moving to Washington, start building a great local office. I went to Congress to wage an ideological war against Big Government. But I quickly learned I would be given space to fight those battles only if I first focused on helping constituents with their problems. Because Nan Weaver and my local staff obsessed over how best to serve constituents, voters gave me more latitude to wage budget wars against President Bill Clinton and GOP appropriators.

A decade after I left office, no one remembers a vote I cast, but I am still touched by the number of people who say my staff helped them through difficult times.

3. EXPERIENCE COUNTS — ESPECIALLY FOR ROOKIES

Hire a chief of staff who knows Washington. Like me, many of you will arrive in Congress wanting to do battle with Washington although you have no political experience. That’s a treacherous path, so hire a local guide to walk you through the mine fields that blow up too many freshmen. My staffers — long-suffering souls such as Bart Roper and David Stafford — would endure my frenetic bursts of energy and quietly pull me aside later to explain why my great ideas were actually not so good.

4. KEEP THE “YES-MEN” IN CORNCOB, TEXAS

Surround yourself with staff members who know how to use the word “No!” Nothing — and I mean nothing — is more dangerous to a new member than bringing a group of “yes men” from the district. What you need is a group of tough insiders whose existence doesn’t revolve around pleasing the bright, shiny new lawmaker from Corncob, Texas. Your best-case scenario would be if they were bored by your very existence and you felt honored to be in their presence. Four terms in Congress taught me the most important thing a staff member can tell you is “No!”

5. ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE

House Minority Leader John Boehner is right. You need to be humble. And you can start by having a better understanding of your role in Washington than hotheads like me had in 1994.

Fight for small government if that’s what you promised to do. But understand that the cuts you pass in the House will be watered down in the Senate and then killed by the White House. If you believe your job is to keep fighting for less government, charge ahead. But understand that your mandate is yours alone. There are 534 other actors in this play, with 534 separate mandates. Don’t demonize them for doing their job.

6. CONSERVE YOUR WORDS

This sounds like strange advice coming from me. Having said that, I have learned from my mistakes. Never give a speech when you are angry. When your blood begins to boil, shut your mouth unless you have a prepared text in front of you. If you don’t have a speech that will help you stay measured, use gum, tobacco or duct tape to keep your mouth occupied.

7. DON’T PLAY DICE WITH TAXPAYERS’ MONEY

Hire the toughest person you can find to handle your congressional and campaign budgets. Because I found a wonderful staffer named Mary Reed, I could go to sleep each night knowing that there would never be an article in Roll Call or The Hill calling into question how I spent taxpayers’ money. It’s worse now because you have those beasts at POLITICO following your every move. In my office, when Mary told me “no,” I bowed. That deference ended up saving me more times than I can count.

8. DON’T SELL YOUR VOTE TO ANYONE

Everyone is going to want to buy your vote. Lobbyists may try with campaign checks and box seats. Party leaders might warn of lost committee assignments or primary challenges. But for your political health, stay true to your convictions by voting your conscience. I can’t count the number of times I saw a young member quake when party leaders moved in and demanded a vote. Most eventually caved, but I can tell you that good things come to those who don’t. Stand your ground. You won’t be sorry.

9. WORK HARDER THAN EVERYONE ELSE

There is just no way around it. You are going to make some really stupid mistakes in Washington. But always remember that hard work erases a multitude of sins.

My schedule on the Hill was brutal by others’ standards. I got to the office at 7 a.m. and usually quit working at 10 p.m. I never went out and knew nothing about Washington’s social scene until I moved back to the nation’s capital in 2004. Other than playing music a few times a year, my years in Congress were consumed by work.

When I went back to my district every weekend, my goal was to hold six town hall meetings before flying back Monday. That schedule might have been exhausting to others, but, by the end of my first term, I was a 32-year-old who knew Florida’s 1st District better than politicians who had served the area longer than I had been alive. No one would come close to mounting a real challenge again.

10. KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON

I wish I had worn this as a sign around my neck in Congress as a reminder to keep everything in perspective.

Be civil, respect others and disagree without questioning people’s motives. Today’s enemy will be tomorrow’s ally, and this year’s ranking member will be next year’s chairman. Just do unto others as you would have them do unto you, and everything else will take care of itself.

One more thing: Have fun. You just got hired to do the greatest job in the world.

A guest columnist for POLITICO, Joe Scarborough hosts “Morning Joe” on MSNBC and represented Florida’s 1st Congressional District in the House of Representatives from 1995 to 2001. © 2010 Capitol News Company, LLC