The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association is sponsoring the WalkingWorks Capitol Hill Challenge, in which members of Congress and their staffs can wear pedometers and compete to see who walks the most. The New York Times piece about this is here. In the piece, we learn that Senator George Voinovich (R-OH) is particularly devoted to the contest. We also learn that his staff calls him “The Voin.”
The New York Times gives some examples of who’s walking, including The Voin, Sen. Kay Bailey “The Hutch” Hutchinson (R-TX), Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), and Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY), among others. But I wanted the full roster. Here it is.
Based on miles walked per participating staff member, Smith is in front (144.65 miles). The Hutch leads the Senate side (68.41 miles.) Among Senators, The Voin is actually in third, with The Grass right behind.
Bringing up the rear? Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), with a paltry .23 miles per staff member (1.14 total). Since you have to have 5 staff members participating, this tells us that each member has walked about 1,200 feet — i.e., not quite a round trip from one end of the Capitol to the other (see here.) That, in my estimation, is pretty weak.
Maryland residents, call Senator Mikulski’s office and tell them to walk! I guarantee you that if Mikulski orders it, it will be so.