About Us

Senator Warner, center, with interns Carter Stephens, left, and Will Tomasko, right.

Will: My name is Will Tomasko. I study Political Science at Brown University, and this summer I have the opportunity to be an intern in Senator Warner’s D.C. office for six weeks. The internship is designed as an educational experience for us to learn about the inner workings of a Senate office, allowing me to see how political concepts I’ve learned about at school apply in practice in Congress.

Carter: My name is Carter Stephens and I’m a rising junior at Princeton University from Richmond, VA. I am an English major, but my interest in politics and government traces back to high school. This year I applied for an internship in Senator Warner’s office because I wanted to both make a tangible contribution to a cause I believe in while gaining experience in matters of office bureaucracy, senate procedures, and the colossus that is Capitol Hill.

What We Do

Carter, left, and Will, right, watch Senator Warner while he's interviewed by Fox News.

Nine of us started the internship around two and a half weeks ago. While we were attending orientation sessions and being trained in the office’s procedures, the staff was working towards a key achievement on the Senator’s top priority: negotiating a bipartisan solution for reducing the nation’s debt and deficit.

What we quickly learned is this: it’s all about communication. Answering calls and listening to voicemails from constituents are key components of an intern’s daily schedule in the Senator’s office. Upon arrival each morning, an intern sits down at a phone and dials into one of the three voicemail boxes to listen to messages that accumulated overnight in order to make room for more constituents to voice their opinions throughout the day. Nobody leaves in the evening until the voicemail is empty. During the day, constituents can either leave their messages for the Senator with whomever picks up the phone or leave their comments in voicemail. Constituent calls are important reference points as they reflect what Virginians care about and how they want their Senator to represent their interests. Phones parallel various trends in constituents’ opinions as key issues and bills fade in and out of public attention.

Call Tally Sheets

When Virginians call our office to leave messages for the Senator, we take notes during the conversation and record the callers’ thoughts and concerns on our “call tally sheets.” Every week, the office collects those tally sheets to produce a report for Senator Warner documenting the opinions of the people who call our office. Our callers’ statements always reach the Senator, and we act as messengers to help him keep track of trends in the public opinion of his constituents. 

Senator Warner in the News

About six months ago, Senator Warner had begun convening a group of three Republican Senators and two other Democratic Senators to produce a balanced plan to reduce spending and raise revenues to help resolve the nation’s budget crisis. The Senators and their staffs would often meet in our offices to work on their $3.7 trillion proposal. The effort was quickly dubbed the “Gang of Six” by the media, or “G6” for short.

Almost every morning, while we logged voicemails and answered the flood of incoming constituent calls, Senator Warner was in the conference room with other G6 members working towards a bipartisan solution to avoid imminent default

A Shift in the Phones

Once details of the G6 deficit reduction proposal emerged this week, we interns noticed an immediate, sharp increase in phone calls from Virginians concerned about the budget negotiations. Calls began coming in almost faster than we could answer them. The callers have been passionate and eager to have us hear their concerns on the issue. They often begin conversations by asking to confirm that Senator Warner is in the G6 that they have been reading about in the news.

Some constituents have wanted to leave messages congratulating the Senator for producing a bipartisan plan. One woman called to say she was upset that the group refers to itself as a “gang” because of the word’s violent connotations—after all, the Senate is usually dangerous only because of politics rather than streetfighting. I spoke with a woman from Colorado a few days ago who told me she was calling each member of the G6 to express her gratitude for their accomplishment in crossing the aisle to work with each other. 

Rising Concerns

In our work answering phones since the G6 plan was released, we have heard more and more every day from Virginians who speak with heated urgency about the federal budget. Some callers yelled at us because they simply wanted to unleash their frustrations with federal fiscal policy.

In my conversations with Virginians this week, I have come to realize how national public policy issues affect them personally in profound ways. Seniors call to describe how they rely on Social Security and Medicare benefits. Veterans call to describe their need for veterans’ benefits. A woman in Roanoke called to tell our office about how she works with children in Head Start programs who would go hungry were it not for national anti-poverty measures.

Virginians who have lost their jobs, their savings, and their homes call because they want Senator Warner to hear their stories while he works on forging a way to implement the G6 plan. Our experience answering phones has taught us how the federal budget affects the lives of Virginians in countless tangible ways. 

Gang Activity

Now that the G6 proposal has been unveiled, the office is buzzing even more than usual. Some staffers have been too busy to leave their desks, even for lunch breaks, so my fellow interns and I have been bringing food to their desks for them.

Occasionally, we get glimpses of the Senator and his chief of staff as they scurry from meeting to meeting. Interns fret when we drop calls from distinguished public officials and news outlets from local, national and international media, who call regularly asking to speak with our press team. A few times Will answered calls from Japanese newspaper reporters covering Senator Warner’s leadership in the G6.

When we walk around the Capitol buildings on errands, we try to stay out of the way of the camera crews and clumps of reporters camped in the hallway outside of our office. Interns have had frequent opportunities to tag-along and watch Senator Warner during several live interviews on cable news networks to discuss the G6 plan.

Last week, we got a chance to observe Senator Warner as he joined Senator Saxby Chambliss, a Republican member of the Gang, to record a radio interview with Steve Inskeep, the host of National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition.” NPR reaches 27 million listeners, and this was a great opportunity for Senators Warner and Chambliss to discuss their year-long efforts to tackle the deficit and debt challenge.

If you listened to Senator Warner’s radio interview, you wouldn’t be aware of how he talks with his hands. He gestures frequently, leaning forward in his chair and maintaining intense eye contact with the interviewer. Meanwhile, in the control room, communications director Kevin Hall is “too caffeinated to sit” once the interview is underway.

Throughout the week, members of the Senator’s staff have been working intently on the deficit and debt challenge, arriving very early and remaining late into the night. The other day, Carter was meeting with legislative correspondent Anna Payne when bluegrass music suddenly blared from beyond the wall separating her desk from the office of Chief of Staff Luke Albee.

Without missing a beat, Anna said, “Sorry, Luke just needs some motivational music right now,” and then she calmly continued discussing the particulars of a specific assignment.

What We Have Learned

Will: The biggest lesson I have learned in my internship so far is how much the work of a Senate office revolves around hearing from constituents. During our first days on the job, we were told about how our Senate office has a strong reputation for being accessible and responsive to Virginians, and every day we gain a better appreciation for the importance of helping to keep Senator Warner aware of his constituents’ thoughts and opinions. My conservations on the phones with Virginians have made me more aware of how important it is for their members of Congress to be listening to their thoughts and concerns. Now that I have experienced the high volume of calls from Virginians’ about the G6’s activities, I’ve realized how closely messages from constituents correspond to the latest public policy issues of the day.

Carter: I will walk away from this internship with a strengthened ability to listen and respond with tact and diplomacy. Communication is a team effort; as the phone lines grew more congested and disgruntled constituent’s tempers shortened, I often consulted fellow interns and staffers to resolve challenging situations. Every call is important. Listening to the opinions and concerns of constituents all over the state has offered me a glimpse into the lives of those who depend on government the most. My perspective of issues that seem irrelevant to my own life has been sharpened by the testimony of hundreds of callers who count on their senator to protect their interests in the Senate Chamber.

- Carter Stephens and Will Tomasko