"It's a challenge," says IOP fellows coordinator Jennifer Phillips. "You need to go to a lot of different sources. We like to ask our network of former fellows, because they know about the experience."

Instead of picking election losers' names from the headlines, McLaughlin says, the KSG is far more likely to turn to this network of former fellows in order to find new and capable people.

Fact or Fiction

McLaughlin and Phillips say that if politicians end up at the IOP after an electoral loss, it is not always their fame but rather their availability that first attracts KSG recruiters.

"We need people who have been personally highly involved in politics, and are available," Phillips says. "Sometimes the way they become available is that they lost."

Edith M. Holway, Administrator for Programs Fellows for the Joan Shorenstein Barone Center on Press, Politics, and Public Policy at the KSG says that though their selection process is slightly different from that of the IOP, the rules are essentially the same.

"The Kennedy School attracts and looks for people who are dedicated to public service," she says.

Debbie Weinberg, director of the Malcom Weiner Center for Social Policy, says the KSG's reputation for attracting famous losers is unfounded.