Character Application and Information Sheet
NS Nation Name: Greater Arab State
Character Name: Abigail ‘Abbie’ Volker
Character Gender: Female
Character Age: 44
Character Height: 5’4
Character Weight: 118 lbs
Character Position/Role/Job:
Commentator at MSNBC’s Hardball (January 2005-Present)
Associate Editor of the American Conservative (October 2002-January 2005)
Republican National Convention Delegate for the (Not-Pat Buchanan) Presidential Campaign (March 1996-August 1996)
Columnist for the Washington Times (February 1995-October 2002)
Columnist for the Southeast Missourian (November 1986-February 1995)
Columnist at the St. Louis Globe-Democrat (June 1985-October 1986)
Character Country/State of Birth: Kentucky
Character State of Residence: Missouri
Character Party Affiliation: Republican (1977-Present)
Faceclaim: Madeleine Dean
Main Strengths: Notable competency for organisation, strong journalistic record, popular commentator amongst Paleoconservatives and the Christian Right
Main Weaknesses: Weak standing amongst moderate Republicans, accused of using her husband’s name for career advancement, accusations of being zealous and opportunistic in fulfilling her ambitions, chronic and potentially harmful dishonesty, perceived as an autocratic in terms of both administration and decision-making
Biography:
Abigail Volker (née Kaiser) was born on November 21st, 1962 in La Grange, Kentucky as the eldest child of three of a professor of History at the University of Louisville and his housewife. Growing up, Abigail enjoyed a moderately comfortable upbringing, albeit one that saw her develop something of a lonely personality due to a lack of attention from her father, who the young Kentuckian eagerly sought the affection of. In order to compensate for this, Abigail developed a strong affinity, which would later culminate in a broader interest for writing and also, journalism.
The tranquil life of Abigail’s early youth saw a sudden and unfortunate deterioration in 1975 however, with the tragic death of her father in a hunting accident. Following this, the now-widowed Mrs Kaiser and her two children moved west for the small community of Leopold, Missouri, where the widow had familial relations. Although the family was able to continue to enjoy a somewhat comfortable existence, her father’s untimely demise caused Abigail’s solitary nature to embed itself further as a means of coping with the grief, as well as finding herself uprooted from the area she had called home for the entirety of her life until that point.
Despite such emotional hardships though, Abigail Kaiser successfully continued to uphold her strong academic performance, which was aided by her internalisation of the grief towards her father’s death. It was also during this period of time that the young Miss Kaiser developed her sense of political identity, with her joining the Republican Party in 1977 on account of the strongly conservative upbringing which she has experienced. For the time being, she would not hold onto these nascent feelings with much energy however. Perhaps the most significant consequence of her High School years however was meeting Thomas Volker, a native of Leopold via a few mutual friends. Eventually this culminated in the two of them developing a rather close personal relationship that would continue to develop further in college. Upon graduating High School and aided by the fact that she had been the most academically rigorous of her family, she was able to rely on the support of them in pursuing a college education.
Although Abigail’s thorough interest in reading and analysis had led to an ambition for a journalistic career, she elected to study Classics with a minor in Political Science at Washington University in St Louis, partially as a result of Thomas Volker being there. Her studies at Washington University saw Abigail continue to perform well whilst also allowing her to eventually find her calling in the form of print journalism via her writing as a columnist for Student Life, the University’s newspaper. For the most part, the Kentuckian‘s columns focussed on the changing political landscape that the Reagan Revolution had brought with it.
Furthermore, Miss Kaiser also sent numerous pieces of copy of college events to the numerous local newspapers within the region, hoping that it would benefit her after graduation. Similarly, Abigail’s studies at Washington University saw the young student finally solidify her political identity via her active campaigning with the College Republicans during the 1984 election campaign. It was during her campaigning that Abigail’s relationship developed further with Thomas Volker, culminating in the two marrying in the summer of 1985, the year before both would conclude their undergraduate studies before entering graduate school, with Abigail electing to pursue a Masters degree in Classics.
During her graduate studies, the now Mrs Volker continued to uphold the high academic standards which had been a hallmark of hers since childhood, frequently being noted as one of the highest performing students in her cohort.
Moreover, utilising the connections she had established in her undergraduate years, Abigail was employed as a columnist at the St Louis Globe-Democrat, a relatively small conservative newspaper in the city which counted amongst its former employees (Not-Pat Buchanan). Although the small scale and readership of the paper often made the work rather mundane, Abigail actively threw herself into it wherever possible, and used her column as a way of articulating an intellectual vision of conservatism which continued the legacy of the ‘Old Right’. Despite this, her tenure would at the Globe-Democrat would not last long, as the paper would cease operations in late October 1986, and after a short period, she soon found work as a columnist for the Southeast Missourian, where she would stay following her graduating in the following year.
Although Abigail, as always, proved energetic and dutiful in her work at the paper, it was also during this time where she felt the most alone, as her few friendships from college and high school began to slip away and Thomas’ own ambitions began to leave him with little free time. Thus, she began to invest even more time in her work despite if at times the writing was rather repetitive. However, opportunity struck within her first year to report on some wider political coverage with the announcement of her husband's campaign for the 145th District of the State House. It was then when Abigail’s work on providing a unique insight into the Volker campaign and its ideological vision through her columns saw her own reputation in the region and Missouri as a whole begin to advance to a moderate extent. This bump in her public image would only grow after her husband's election to the House of Representatives in 1994 when she would receive an offer to work for a relatively new national newspaper, the Washington Times.
Mrs. Volker's work at the Washington Times saw her climb at a steady yet quick pace through the ranks, writing columns covering events within Congress, a matter and set of content particularly helped by the political links and connections made through her husband. Her rapid rise was in addition aided by the votes on legislation for the 'Contract with America' that the Republicans had used during the 1994 campaign. Furthermore, the Republican primaries in 1996 saw Mrs. Volker being selected as a delegate for the (Not-Pat Buchanan) campaign as a result of her prominence in the south east of the state as well as Thomas’ own cordial relationship with the candidate, and after the latter’s success in Missouri, she would ultimately go on to attend the 1996 Republican National Convention and cast a vote for (Not-Pat Buchanan) in his unsuccessful campaign. This steady rise in name recognition amongst the conservative movement ultimately culminated in Abigail providing written coverage on the Clifford impeachment trial, a matter which did raise her name recognition to a greater yet still rather limited extent whilst also endearing her further amongst D.C.'s conservatives.
Come the War on Terror, Mrs Volker continued to write columns that supported the actions undertaken by the Cush Administration in the wake of 9/11, with Abigail writing a column in support of the Patriot Act as a temporary measure, and which was widely cited by conservative pundits. In spite of this support though, Mrs Volker actively pressed against the growing calls amongst neoconservatives for ‘nation-building’ in the grounds that it proved “contrary to the republican nature of the United States and the vision of the Founding Fathers” whilst also stressing Cush’s relatively non-interventionist foreign policy platform as a candidate.
As 2002 passed by, and the likelihood of the Cush Administration invading Iraq grew, Mrs Volker was offered a position as Associate Editor at the American Conservative, a paleoconservative publication that sought to oppose the growing interventionist trend in the Cush Administration, and which she accepted. Although she opposed the invasion, Abigail provided relatively muted criticism as it took place in order to avoid undermining the efforts of American troops in the region. Instead, her editorials emphasised the need for swift actions that would allow the US to withdraw as early as possible having successfully attained its objectives and with a minimum loss of American casualties.
For the course of her tenure, Abigail Volker proved to be effective in articulating the vision of the publication and consequently, Mrs Volker, as with her husband before her, became something of an icon amongst the relatively small paleoconservative movement. Amongst her subordinates at the magazine, she was also noted to be a spirited, if rather autocratic, editor who emphasised the quality of writing and argument in articles. However, the beginning of 2005 saw opportunity present itself in the form of MSNBC’s Hardball debate programme. Although Abigail was somewhat cautious of this new opportunity, particularly because her career at that point has been in print journalism alone, she decided to leave the American Conservative in favour of newer, and perhaps more wide reaching, pastures.
The past two years have seen Abigail Volker remain as a commentator at MSNBC, where she has been seen as something of a political pugilist, as well as an individual who was willing at times to buck the consensus of her party, as became apparent following the growth in the Iraqi insurgency. And now, as the 2008 election, as well as the process of selecting the next nominee of the Republican Party, drew nearer, only time will tell whether Mrs Volker will once again see an opportunity for both her own advancement, and that of the conservative movement.
Other Info:
Abigail has been married to her husband, Thomas Volker for 22 years, having with him a total of 5 children: Thomas Jr (Born September 1989), Sarah (Born April 1991), William & John (Born January 1993), and Madeleine (Born November 1999); she is also a devout Lutheran and has previously taught Sunday school back in Missouri prior to Thomas’ election to the House. As a result of her university education, Abigail is trilingual in English, Ancient Greek, and Latin. Besides politics and journalism, Abigail is an avid amateur equestrian, a hobby she has had since her childhood in Kentucky
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