Old Friend in the News

I'd forgotten about Drey working for South Dakota's U.S. Senator Tim Johnson.  Omaha World-Herald had a detailed article on him today, Ex-Nebraskan Fills in For Ill U.S. Senator  It's a free subscription paper so you need an id and password to read it.  (Bugmenot.com option).  A earlier tidbit from the Washington Post instead.

At Roll Call, an Uneasy Silence - Washington Post

"The 46 members of the senator's staff in Washington and South Dakota suddenly found themselves on their own. 'This experience is certainly one of the most surreal of my life,' says Drey Samuelson, Johnson's chief of staff for 20 years in the House and Senate.

The first few days brought out the best and worst of Washington: Colleagues from both sides of the aisle rushed to be with his family, sent piles of food to his office. But no one could help speculating: What if Johnson died or resigned? South Dakota's Republican governor probably would pick a Republican successor. The Senate would be divided 50-50. Vice President Cheney would break ties.

'It was hard to see Tim treated as a poker chip as opposed to a human being,' Samuelson says.  When it became 'clear he was going to live,' the story lost its sizzle and the reporters went away, Samuelson says."

Old Friend in the News

I'd forgotten about Drey working for South Dakota's U.S. Senator Tim Johnson.  Omaha World-Herald had a detailed article on him today, Ex-Nebraskan Fills in For Ill U.S. Senator  It's a free subscription paper so you need an id and password to read it.  (Bugmenot.com option).  A earlier tidbit from the Washington Post instead.

At Roll Call, an Uneasy Silence - Washington Post

"The 46 members of the senator's staff in Washington and South Dakota suddenly found themselves on their own. 'This experience is certainly one of the most surreal of my life,' says Drey Samuelson, Johnson's chief of staff for 20 years in the House and Senate.

The first few days brought out the best and worst of Washington: Colleagues from both sides of the aisle rushed to be with his family, sent piles of food to his office. But no one could help speculating: What if Johnson died or resigned? South Dakota's Republican governor probably would pick a Republican successor. The Senate would be divided 50-50. Vice President Cheney would break ties.

'It was hard to see Tim treated as a poker chip as opposed to a human being,' Samuelson says.  When it became 'clear he was going to live,' the story lost its sizzle and the reporters went away, Samuelson says."