BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Chris Hansen, executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee
How/where are you celebrating your birthday and with whom? “No clue. My fiancé will be on her bachelorette party so I don’t have any plans quite yet. So if anyone wants to hang out, I’ll be around!”
How did you get your start in politics? “I was a paid precinct walker on Kevin Faulconer’s city council campaign in San Diego. We won a really close race and I was hooked. I made friends on that race that I still talk to every day, Kevin Faulconer is now the mayor of San Diego and I got a great career out of it.”
What’s an interesting book/article you’re reading now or finished? And why? “Shameless plug: go buy ‘The Great Revolt: Inside the Populist Coalition Reshaping American Politics,’ by Salena Zito and my great friend Brad Todd.”
What is a trend going on in the U.S. or abroad that doesn’t get enough attention? “Kids don’t play Little League baseball anymore! They’re all playing lacrosse. If kids don’t play baseball they probably won’t love baseball and their parents won’t take them to many games. They won’t grow up to be baseball fans and baseball will slowly die out. We should be having a national conversation about this.”
How is the Trump presidency going? “All of the liberal red state Democrats we are running against seem to think it’s going pretty well since they are bending over backwards to tell voters about how much they are allegedly working with him.”
What’s a fun fact that people in Washington might not know about you? “I saved all of my money when I was younger from my job as a valet and when I was 20 I bought an around-the-world plane ticket from British Airways and backpacked for nine months. New Zealand and Thailand were the best places I went. I stayed in a beach bungalow for $2 a day in Thailand and got certified as a rescue diver because I dreamed of being a SCUBA instructor when I was older. I had cooler dreams when I was 20.”