InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Big Damn Heroes, Sir!"

Vogue Interview, January 2009

When Avery Campbell arrives for our photoshoot and interview, she looks like she's already dressed for the camera.
"It's last season's Lam," she responded when asked. Though she's not entirely a public figure of her own right, the twenty five year old understands the importance of appearance in Washington, and it's not just about clothes.
"You have to keep everyone happy. It's a balancing routine, you have to take everyone's concerns into consideration and then form your own ideas from that. It's very hard for some people to appeal to both sides of the political spectrum, and the potential to be a hypocrite is always there." Not for Campbell, at least, who voted Labour (self described "democratic socialist" party) while she lived in her home country of England and pursues a fairly liberal existence this side of the pond. She drinks, she says, but very rarely since she's nearly always on the clock. She takes advantage of D.C.'s night life when she has spare time. And if she could've voted in the last election (she's yet to apply for citizenship) she says she would've voted for Barack Obama. "I'm young, he appealed to me."
She's young, liberal, and foreign...What's she doing working for Republican Senator Gregory Miers? She laughs when asked. "I was in New York when the word went out, I'd just received my international affairs degree and was working in a non-political household at the time. When I found I had the opportunity to work for a Senator, it seemed like a dream come true."
Not many would describe Senator Miers as a dream come true; since having begun his political career soon after wife Nicole Remington died in 2005, Miers has risen to the top ranks of his party, earning a frankly terrifying reputation with nicknames like 'Gregbo' (reminiscent of Rambo) and 'Fort Miers'. At forty-four, he's been described as relentless, brutal, and incomprehensibly determined. His hard-hitting tactics and use of colorful language leaves many wondering at the state of Campbell's ego, having lived and worked with the Senator for going on four years.
"He's scary," Campbell admits. "But he's also extraordinarily capable and the smartest man I know," Worthy compliments coming from a woman who skipped her last year of public school to attend the University of Brighton at just seventeen years old. She did well at school, earning a Bachelor's in political science while in England and later earning a degree in international affairs at NYU. Some might say she's overqualified to simply be a nanny.
"Oh I'm not just a nanny," she rebuffs. "With someone like Senator Miers, who is so busy and so on top of things, you need help who doesn't need things explained, who doesn't need specific instructions for every little task. He needed someone who understood what was going on at work as well as at home. I was that person." There is a hint of Miers' trademark smirk on Campbell's pretty face when she's asked about fetching coffee.
"I do everything. Literally, name a household chore, I do it. Naturally, his child comes first, but I'm on the phone with his office all the time. I handle his schedule. I make sure he's on time to things." So the Miers empire would come crashing down without her? She laughs again.
"I think Senator Miers could do anything if he wanted to." The admiration is clear in her eyes. "If he really wanted to take care of Madison on his own and keep his political career going, there is no doubt in my mind that he could achieve that."
When asked about Madison, her smile brightens but her brow furrows. "You're supposed to separate your work from your personal life, but my work is my personal life. So it's hard when I'm asked about what happens if the Senator remarries, or when Madison is old enough to take care of herself. Can you quote me on that?" So her advice to young women in her position would be not to get involved emotionally?
"Oh no, that's impossible. If you're responsible for a child, you can't help but get attached. Madison was four years old when I started working for the Senator, I would be a monster if I could honestly say I didn't care about her." She says she's remarkably lucky in her placement when it comes to both child and situation.
"Madison takes after her father in many ways, she's extremely intelligent, so she's very easy to get along with." And as for living with her charge and her employer in a luxurious townhouse while in DC and a six story smarthouse when in Boston?
"The perks are obviously amazing," she concedes, smiling. "But I'd stay on the job even if the situation was different." Loyalty like that in a place like Washington is something money can't always buy, and Campbell says that the Senator understands that.
"He knows I have political aspirations, but he also knows that my first priority is my current job. I took the job because I knew he could teach me, but my goal as never been to drain him of information and move on to the next mentor." She also dismisses the connotations that come with being a beautiful young woman working for a widowed man.
"There are...can I call them gold diggers? They exist. They're out there. And it's not always about money, it can be about fame, notoriety, political influence." All of which she's gained from working for Senator Miers. "I would never compromise him or his career to further my own." She says this firmly. "Being a woman in politics, there's scrutiny. And I'm not there yet but when I am, it will be about my clothes and my Botox and my past relationships, whether I like it or not. And I've been very careful to distance myself from anything that might jeopardize my career when it really begins." There's a saying in Washington, that all the men are either Republicans or homosexual, and Campbell's face is serious when she nods slowly.
"If I was dating, if I wanted to, it would be hell." When asked why she isn't, she waves her hand dismissively. "I don't have time. That sounds bad, I know, but if you're really dedicated to something, dating doesn't happen. Not unless you're dedicated to dating." Her advice to young professionals? "Figure out your priorities. Some things are more important than others. Isolate those things." Her simply being at this shoot seems to contradict that. "I didn't say you couldn't have fun," she laughs. "I'm doing this one time, if I had this every weekend it would become a problem." And her love for fashion?
"I have a responsibility to Senator Miers," She smiles primly, with the air of a woman who is paid to be fabulous. To look good? "To represent him in the public eye. Someone said that a man can be best measured by how he treats his lessers. It's an incentive thing. It's like, 'look at me, if you are excellent at what you do, you too can buy Doo.Ri for yoga class,'." She shakes her head, not really believing herself.
"Fashion isn't important in politics." It's as if Miers' teaching is finally coming through, a man who has been featured in various magazines for the contents of his head, not his closet. "Sometimes I want to burn that f--king belt of his," she growls, clenching her fists before clapping a hand over her mouth.
"Oh, please don't print that," she shakes her head. "See, I've learned so much already." When asked if Senator Miers has passed on anything more than his ability to swear, she nods seriously, composure regained.
"His methods may be slightly unorthodox but that's his passion. You know he's doing what he loves, and he's keeping it together. I can't tell you how much I respect that man." We can only guess.