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A passion for public service

Contributed by: Cory Casciato on 2/17/2006

Susan Casey is the original “soccer mom.”

Before the term became a buzzword among pollsters, pundits and marketers, it was a campaign slogan she came up with for her first run at public office, running for Denver City Council in 1995. Since she wasn’t well-known in the area she wanted a simple way to let people know who she was and what she was doing. The solution was a simple yellow flyer that read “Soccer Mom for City Council.”

“Since I was spending a good part of my day shlepping either my son or my daughter to soccer practice or watching games, mingling with other soccer moms and dads, that seemed to me to be a good way to connect,” she said. “It’s been a very helpful thing in a way. People really viewed me in a much more personal way than a lot of politicians get.”

The phrase caught on and before long it appeared in pollsters’ vocabulary as a demographic group. From there the term took on a life of its own, but it was eventually traced back to Casey as the originator. Casey says even today she is still sometimes recognized as “that soccer mom” politician.

Casey won that race and was reelected four years later for a second term. After serving two more years, she resigned from the council in 2001, in part due to concern over how newly enacted term limits laws would impact the city council. Concerned that the entire council would reach their term limits simultaneously, leaving a completely new and inexperienced council, she wanted to ensure some degree of continuity. After efforts to work out a plan with other council members fell apart, Casey resigned so her successor could gain experience before the transition.

Following her stint on the city council, Casey decided to run for the number one office in the city – mayor. In a wide-open race, she felt her experience in public administration gave her a good chance. She said the race felt competitive until John Hickenlooper, the eventual victor, got into the race.

“Within 30 days (he) had raised a ton of money ... went on TV with some fabulous ... ads, caught the wave and became the darling,” she said. “(He) blew us all away.”

Long before Casey ever ran for public office herself, she accumulated plenty of hands-on experience with public service and political campaigns.

She started her career as a high school teacher in Connecticut. After completing her masters degree in social work she became a school social worker, working with troubled and disabled children. Prior to that time, Casey said her interest in and understanding of politics was minimal. Her experiences on the job sparked a deeper interest in the subject.

“I found myself gravitating to the policy and programmatic efforts, discovering that spending a few months working to get some policy passed or program developed, suddenly a whole group of families and kids had a different kind of life ... That was really my first kind of inkling that policy and politics were also vehicles to making a difference. It’s the same kind of social work, service ethic, but it was a new vehicle,” she said.

That interest grew when she moved back to New Hampshire in 1979, after her daughter was born. Not liking Carter’s performance as president or his chances of re-election, she took a job working as a local coordinator on Edward Kennedy’s presidential campaign.

A few years later, she joined Gary Hart’s campaign when he was a virtual unknown. She spearheaded a grassroots campaign that won him the New Hampshire primary – a feat that she considers her biggest success in the realm of presidential campaigns. She worked with Hart’s campaign again in 1988, then with Bob Kerrey in 1992 and most recently she served as the senior adviser for John Kerry in the New Hampshire primary, worked on his program for the convention and ran his campaign in Colorado.

There’s a common thread that runs through those candidates that many would find discouraging – they all lost. Casey acknowledges that this has its frustrations, but she doesn’t see it as any reason to quit.

“At the time that it is happening, it is devastating. When you really put your heart and soul into somebody, ... really believe in somebody and they are depending on you and it doesn’t work out it’s tough,” she said. “But I seem to have mastered the art of resiliency.”

Part of the reason for that resiliency is the chance to make a difference, to be involved and do important work in the process of selecting the leader of the most powerful nation on earth. Part of it comes from the very nature of working on a campaign. From stuffing envelopes to answering phones, political campaigns rely on dedicated people doing mundane things for little payment.

“90 percent of it is the tasks getting done. Most people think it’s grand strategy,” she said. “(But) it’s the tasks. It all comes back to some pretty basic stuff. It’s not very sexy, it’s not very glamorous. It’s just plain hard work.”

Her experiences in campaigns at all levels, from her own city council bid all the way to the presidency, have convinced Casey that the impact of money on campaigns is a problem. Campaigns are expensive and without extensive political connections, raising money is an arduous process.

“You spend all your time calling people and raising money $25 at a time, $50 at a time ... making the case for yourself. When you run for office, you have to wake up in the morning and start talking about yourself and convincing people you’re worth investing money in. It’s the most painful (process),” she said. “Thousands and thousands who would love to serve, at all levels, never consider running because of how difficult it is to raise money.”

Casey said public funding of elections would help, but it’s only part of the solution. Television is the primary battleground in politics and television time is expensive.

“Unless and until there is a way to rethink use of the public airwaves ... to build in access (for) candidates, there will always be a need for ways to go around (a) public financing system,” she said. “TV has to be a part of it.”

Casey plans to be a part of the next presidential election, but hasn’t settled on a candidate just yet. That’s partly to see how the field develops, and partly to avoid the mountain of work that goes into the early stages of a campaign. However that race ends up, she has no intention of leaving the game of politics anytime soon.

“(In) 2008 I’ll be there, I’m coming back, in 2012, and when they have to wheel me in, in my rocker,” she said. “I’m coming back until we get it right.”

Casey isn’t sitting on her hands until campaign time. She recently started a job that has taken her nearly full circle, back to teaching. She currently teaches courses in public administration and the American presidency, two areas in which she has an immense amount of experience, at Metropolitan State College of Denver. It’s an opportunity she’s finding quite satisfying, citing the diversity and dedication of Metro’s student body as two factors that make it the place she wants to be.

“People are (at Metro) on purpose. They ... want to do something, go someplace. I’m very impressed with the level of engagement and the level of knowledge,” she said. “People of different ages, coming from different places and being there for different reasons. I think that’s just a wonderful atmosphere.”

From high school teacher to key adviser to several top candidates for America’s highest office, Casey is grateful for the numerous opportunities that have come her way.

“I have just been so lucky. I just have not had an experience I would not have done again and encouraged people to do. I would not have been happy doing any one of them for my whole life. The good fortune I’ve had is that I’ve had a chance to do so many of them, like the cat who lives nine lives,” she said. “That’s just been a great joy.”

She’s looking forward to many years of teaching and the challenges that entails, more campaigns and new opportunities of all kinds.

“I’m not sure what the next great adventure will be, but I’m sure it will be a next great adventure,” she said. “I’m just keeping my eyes open for when that comes along.”



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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Cory Casciato

Arvada , CO

Cory Casciato has posted 1 story and 0 comments since joining on 2/13/2006. Cory Casciato 's average story rating is 0.
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