In the past few months, I've sat across the table from Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, John McCain and Ron Paul. I took notes as they outlined their visions and I studied their faces for clues to their innermost thoughts. And I work for a newspaper with a circulation of less than 30,000.
Welcome to life in Concord, NH, where the last few months of 2007 and the first eight days of 2008 were packed with presidential contenders, all hoping to make it big in the state's primary. In the final few days, you couldn't drive down Main Street without passing throngs of exuberant sign-wavers and forests of campaign signs stuck into snow banks.
Not that I'm complaining. One of the reasons my partner and I moved to New Hampshire in 2005 was the primary. I took a job as a night desk editor at the Concord Monitor expecting a face-to-face education in democracy.
I got more than an education. I got a rollercoaster ride.
The Monitor hosts presidential candidates for a simple reason: They want the newspaper's endorsement. Given New Hampshire 's tiny population, even a small newspaper has a big influence. Add to that the Monitor’s reputation as one of the best hometown newspapers in the region, and candidates come from far and wide.
Technically, candidates' visits are for the benefit of our editorial board, but the newsroom as a whole is welcome to drop in, listen and perhaps ask a question. That's how I came to sit near Hillary, Barack, John, John and Ron.
Perhaps I'm not on a first-name basis with them. But when you see these folks speaking to a handful of reporters in a conference room, you're reminded of their humanity. They are, really, just like you and me. With better hair.
LGBT concerns were on our minds, too. With New Hampshire enacting a civil unions law Jan. 1, we asked candidates about their stances. Such questions seldom produced revelatory answers, but I was heartened to see that my colleagues took these issues as seriously as I do.
Our staff had relationships with the candidates that transcended these meetings. Each of our reporters was assigned a candidate, and their experiences differed as the candidates did.
Each of our reporters was assigned a candidate, and their experiences differed as the candidates did. John McCain, for instance, was always a plum assignment. He’s called the press his core constituency, but that seems to be because he likes reporters, and they respond.
Other candidates posed more of a challenge. Rudolph Giuliani, who decided against committing his full time and resources to the state, was inaccessible. Reporters could watch, but their questions were mostly turned aside.
But these meetings and relationships weren't for our benefit. We translated them into stories. The Monitor's reporters, photographers and editors dove into the campaign. I’m not the only one, after all, who enjoys New Hampshire because of the political climate.
The entire season shifted into overdrive in the five short days between the Iowa caucuses and our primary. On the night desk, as I attempted to shape A1 — laying out the page and conjuring up headlines — I also answered the newsroom phone. People were eager to talk to us.
Did I know our paper's editorial blasting Mitt Romney was disgusting? Did I know that Hillary Clinton was the kind of president we really need right now? Did I know that Barack Obama was secretly Muslim?
All of these calls and more came in. This doesn't count the assault on my (and practically every other New Hampshire resident's) home phone. By the time primary day came, I admit, I was looking forward to the end of election season.
The Monitor kept its head down during that final stretch. Our reporters and editors taught me a lesson every day: Solid, calm news judgment always outweighs the latest campaign fluff.
Take Clinton 's “stunning” victory. While many were startled as her lead held, it made sense. Her campaign had been one of the most organized in the state. (I was roused from bed one Saturday morning in November by a call from a Clinton staffer, taking me to task over a Monitor story. Little escaped their notice.)
We knew about Clinton 's supporters throughout the state. They were our sources. And while Obama-mania was certainly real — you could feel the enthusiasm for him during the last week — those longstanding Clinton connections won out.
My advice? Pay attention to what you see. Remember lessons from Reporting 101.
In a time when traditional media's role is oftentimes doubted, the primary brought home to me how important our jobs really are. We told real stories about real people. We asked sober questions and wrote serious stories. We played a role — and it wasn't because we were loud or controversial. We simply did journalism, the best we knew how.
