IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – In her six months working for Carly Fiorina, Rebecca Schieber has learned to always have a Sharpie pen handy for autographs. She’s found ways to order the right vegetable-loaded meals on the road and become an expert at whisking her boss out of a room.
She’s still working on keeping the candidate’s favorite “crunchy gum” in her bulging bag.
Fiorina’s Republican presidential campaign has served as a whirlwind political education for the 22-year-old, who graduated from Northwestern University in the spring.
“I don’t think the books I read in college at all prepared me for this experience,” says Schieber, a native of the Chicago suburbs who studied political science and American studies before coming to work for the GOP’s lone female presidential candidate.
Schieber has landed in a rare position on the presidential campaign trail- working as a “body woman.” The job isn’t to provide security, but rather to act as more of a personal assistant, adviser and sidekick. It is typically held by men, perhaps because most candidates in both parties are male. And this remains the kind of up-close-and-personal gig where gender still plays a role in hiring decisions. It’s not unusual for the aide to spend long days with the candidate, and late nights conferring in a hotel room.