Ernst, a political unknown who rose to fame in 2014 with an ad promising she could cut pork in Washington because of her experience castrating hogs on her family farm, has signaled her media strategy by declining interviews since her election from anyone other than Iowa outlets.
“What we really want to do is focus on Iowa,” she told the Des Moines Register.
Over the holidays, Love had told a local Utah public radio outlet that she would try to avoid national media attention and focus on representing her district. But she has been a visible presence on the national stage since her win in November and during her first week in Washington. She agreed to a feature in People magazine with her family at their Saratoga Springs. She made her first appearance on a Sunday show last week and spoke to Fox on Thursday night about her vote on legislation related to Obamacare. On Friday morning, she joined other House members on the floor to read aloud from the Constitution.
“One of the best pieces of advice that Ted Kennedy used to give incoming senators was to be a workhorse, not a show horse,” said Stephanie Cutter, a former senior adviser to Kennedy and Obama. Incoming members, “regardless of their celebrity have to demonstrate that they are willing to roll up their sleeves, reach across party lines and get things done. If you do that successfully, then you are setting yourself up for whatever you want to do next.”
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But while running for re-election to the U.S. Senate this fall, Booker told NJ.com that his goal for the year was to “stay away from the media” and “earn the respect of my colleagues” as a hard worker.
Ernst and Love will face many of those kinds of decisions as they try to prove themselves on the national stage.
“They’re both going to get an enormous amount of requests, not only for interviews, but also to travel and raise money for their respective parties and caucuses,” Solis-Doyle said. ‘They are going to have to think hard about how to balance all that.”
To nurture their careers over the long term, she recommended following what she called ‘the Hillary model’: “Keep your head down; keep your eyes and ears open; figure out how the place works and then do your best to provide for your constituents.”
