Gabby_ A Story of Courage and Hope - Alison Hanson [9]
“So great to see you,” she’d say, again and again, and she meant it. She’d remember names, children’s names, hometowns, and the particular issue that might be on someone’s mind.
A guy from Raytheon, the defense contractor, stopped by. Raytheon is the biggest private employer in Tucson, and Gabby bantered with him about the new SM-6 air-defense missile. “So I hear you’re going to deliver it on time and on budget, right?” she said. She had a friendly way of putting people at ease while also letting them know she was watching things closely. She kidded with a lobbyist from the United Services Automobile Association, which insures military families. “I hope you guys are taking good care of those veterans,” she said. As the line inched forward, she saw a constituent from Arizona she’d met during the campaign. “Hey, thanks for making the trip to Washington,” she said. “So what do you need? You want someone to take you over to the White House? Maybe I can do it later in the week.”
On days like this, watching the ease with which she hugged everyone, Gabby reminded me of Bill Clinton on the campaign stump. Like him, she had great personal skills, and an ability to look people in the eye and listen to their concerns. I know people are suspicious of politicians and their motives. And yes, Gabby wanted to be liked and to win elections. But she also completely cared about her constituents and the issues that moved or upset them. As my mother liked to say, “Gabby is pure of heart, always thinking of the betterment of everyone else.” That’s a pretty good endorsement from a mother-in-law, I’d say. Too bad we couldn’t put it on Gabby’s campaign posters.
I don’t want to give the impression that we all thought of her as Saint Gabby. But if you had seen her that day in her office, you’d know what I mean. The line of well-wishers stretched out into the hallway, and snaked through the outer office and into Gabby’s private office. She gave each visitor her full attention. It was as if she were the bride at a wedding reception, except she was in a knit suit rather than a bridal gown.
I stood with her for a while, like a fidgety groom, saying hello to people, but then I got bored and started wandering around the office, looking at the pictures on the walls. Gabby, on the other hand, would have stood there hugging and talking until springtime if that’s what it took to see everyone.
Gabby’s mom, Gloria, is a great photographer as well as an artist, and she took photos of everyone passing through the office. Gabby’s staffers have since mailed a lot of those photos on to the people in them. No one realized it at the time, of course, but it was as if everyone was getting one last keepsake of themselves with Gabby as she was before her injury.
The open house went three hours, an hour longer than scheduled, because of the mob of visitors and the attention Gabby paid to everyone. That put her behind for the rest of the day.
Next on her agenda, she had to cast a vote for the next Speaker of the House. Because the Republicans had won the majority of seats in the 2010 elections, it didn’t really matter who Gabby voted for: the GOP’s John Boehner was going to win. But Gabby knew her vote would have ideological ramifications in her district and among her peers. That meant it wasn’t a decision she could take lightly.
Arizona’s 8th District has more registered Republicans than Democrats, and a great many independents. Gabby, a moderate herself, had to be politically astute and constantly mindful of how non-Democrats among her constituents would view her every decision. Though she considered Nancy Pelosi to be a friend and valued party leader, she knew a vote for Nancy wouldn’t play well with the conservatives back home, many of whom had vilified Nancy when she served as Speaker. Gabby would need to make a political decision, and that meant not supporting Nancy, who had supported her throughout her