Tags:
Journalism of Courage
By the eve of the New Hampshire primary last week, the candidates for president, especially the ones with a realistic shot at their party8217;s nomination, were tired 8212; very, very tired. They had been campaigning hard for a year or more, flat out for months, nearly around the clock for weeks. The election itself, incredibly, was still ten months away. There had been no break after the Iowa caucuses. How could there be, with only four full days left until the New Hampshire voting? The schedule 8212; the anarchic product of hundreds of uncoordinated, self-interested manoeuvres by state legislatures, party committees, and campaign high commands, combining the worst features of languid lengthening and frenetic foreshortening 8212; is insane. And brutal. What keeps the candidates going besides a sincere desire to 8220;give back8221; is the adrenaline in their veins, the addicting intensity of the experience, and the glitter of the prize.
Extreme fatigue and undiluted adrenaline make a powerful cocktail. The wonder is that none of these people have yet been carted off to the funny farm. Last week, small cracks began to appear in the faccedil;ade of mastery that all candidates strive to maintain. Even Senator Barack Obama, the youngest and fittest of the bunch, was starting to show the strain. In Rochester, on Monday evening, the then, briefly Democratic front-runner addressed an overflow crowd packed into one of the intimate, theatre-like meeting halls that New Hampshire towns specialise in preserving. He was getting into the heart of his stump speech, surfing waves of applause. 8220;In less than twenty-four hours, you can do what the cynics said could not be done,8221; he orated. 8220;We can come together, Democrats, Independents, and, yes, some Republicans, and proclaim that we are one nation, we are one people, and the time has changed for.8221; He stopped abruptly and mused, as if breaking the fourth wall, 8220;That8217;s the second time I8217;ve done this today.8221; Then, switching immediately back into character, he picked up where he had left off: 8220;The time for change has come!8221;
8220;Well, luckily, on special days I do have help,8221; Clinton said. Then her eyes welled up, and she took a deep breath. It8217;s not easy. It8217;s not easy.
From an article by Hendrik Hertzberg in the January 21 issue of The New Yorker
