LONG WAY, CONT.
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RIDING THE BUS IN TEL AVIV: An adventure.
tion. There are things I get from being here in Israel that I would never get from studying in another university.” Of course, there’s still been a little bit of culture shock, as she gets used to kosher food and tries (not always successfully) to stay off Facebook and Twitter on shabbat. “My friends laugh at me because I’m going crazy,” she said. “I’m like, ‘man, the weekend is when I run all my errands.’ Y’all want me to pack school and work and errands and everything into my week.” The most difficult adjustment has been living in a place that remains under threat of violence. Last November a bus bombing in Tel Aviv injured 27. Smith takes the bus to work in Tel Aviv, and for several weeks she was too scared to ride. “The people of Israel are resilient, they say ‘this is our land, we’re not moving, we’re not going to be afraid, we’re not going to be scared off our territory.’ I just could not live like this on a permanent basis. They’re brave and I say God bless them.” What’s next for Smith? Once she graduates this summer, she’s hoping to be able to use her degree in a government policy role in the U.S. But serving as an elected official back home in Arkansas remains a dream. “I would love to run,” she said. “The thing is, it’s just timing, you gotta figure out — is it the right time, is it the right position?” If Smith clearly has the political bug, it also seems that part of her interest in going back to school is rooted in a desire for more substance in the political arena. “I’ve become quite annoyed with
D.C. politics,” she says. “I spent about four years there. I love politics, I love the competition, I’m a conservative Republican and I’ve never tried to hide or shy away from it. I love that. But I get annoyed when people are holding up pieces of legislation on foolishness or when people are spouting talking points from their different political parties that aren’t substantial, that don’t even make any sense. I’m like, ‘do any of y’all even know what you’re talking about?’ You wanna ask them.” For political journalists, the return of Smith would certainly provide great copy. She remains almost too quotable for her own good, popping out gems like, “like Newt Gingrich told me, Republicans really need to start knowing things.” Her Twitter account is always entertaining, whether she’s talking politics (on Dustin McDaniel: “No way he could survive an affair and a dead body”) or current events (on Manti Te’o: “Can’t love online only”). For now, she’s keeping her toes in the water of Arkansas politics. Earlier this year she helped craft a response for Sen. Jason Rapert (R-Bigelow) in the wake of a scandal (when an old video surfaced of Rapert saying “we’re not going to allow minorities to run roughshod over what you people believe in.”). She is serving on the exploratory committee for Dennis Mil-
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ligan’s run for state treasurer and will play a consulting role in Ken Yang’s
bid for state auditor as well. As for striking out on her own, Smith said, “It’s not a secret; I think most people know I want to run for something. I just don’t know when.”
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MARCH 28, 2013
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