Walker Goes to Washington

I met Hillary Clinton yesterday. My company gave a presentation to her and her staff yesterday, in the Indian Affairs hearing room of the Russell Senate Office Building. You know I can't talk about work on my blog, so it's a little hard to give you the real lowdown, but fortunately, there were things other than work to pay attention to.

In addition to being interested in the intellectual and political content of the event, I was curious about what Hillary would be wearing. She has a reputation for favoring black pants suits; I was wearing a black pants suit. She turned up in a dark brown textured pants suit with a light blue wool sweater underneath. Very becoming, but I couldn't help but think it must be warm.

I always look at successful women's shoes. There is a part of me that thinks the reason I am not more successful starts with the fact that I cannot wear the right shoes. Anything that looks good hobbles me in a few hours, and while I'm willing to suffer for the occasional important meeting -- like today's; black leather loafers, but without orthotics they might as well have been stilettos -- the key to success is being able to do something -- talk to strangers, shake hundreds of hands, wear the right shoes -- many days in a row.

Hillary's shoes were not what I would have called successful: brown pumps with a low heel (two inches is considered high in Washington), and a pointy toe. They could not have been comfortable, and if you are going to be uncomfortable, you should wear something more attractive.

It didn't matter. If she can manage to meet 50 or so million people in the next three years, Hillary will be our next president. She was friendly, engaged, intelligent and kind. She has people who can worry about whether she's spending too long with her constituents or missing an important hearing. She stayed focussed on us the entire time, and made sure that we were all included in her questions. Despite my tendency to go stupid when I meet famous people, I was reasonably articulate, and managed a firm handshake. Her hands are very small. I've always thought she would be a good senator for New York, but after yesterday, I was ready to volunteer for HILLARY 2008.