DAY TWO - Congressional Delegation

Representative Joe Wilson

the real decision-makers on the trip were the Congressional delegations.

With a trip to Washington whose itinerary includes private meetings with Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, and Washington Post columnist George Will, you almost expect the feel of power in and around Washington to get a little intoxicating.  Sitting in a room where Jim Hoagland of the Washington Post and Ed Chen of the Los Angeles Times are fielding panel questions from your class is special, but when you get down to it, the real decision-makers on the trip were the Congressional delegations.  However, once we got to shaking hands and discussing issues, that expected 'power surge' never really materialized.

In one morning, we had a whirlwind through the Rayburn, Cannon, and Longworth Buildings to meet with three of South Carolina's representatives.  Joe Wilson, John Spratt, and Jim Clyburn all welcomed us warmly and happily took time out their schedules to accommodate the questions and concerns of a group of students from back home.

The common thread that ran through all three meetings was passion.  Joe Wilson's passion for public service, John Spratt's passion for the numbers that make the budget go 'round, and Jim Clyburn's passion for his constituency were all on full display for the class. 

Lauren Markoe ... the first real journalist

Lunch followed with The State's Washington correspondent, Lauren Markoe.  Ms. Markoe was engaging and open about her brief time covering the capital for South Carolina.  She seemed very comfortable covering the Congressional Delegation in particular, noting "it's small enough that I can really get my arms around it."  She offered advice to the group about how to deal with public figures as a journalist, and some seldom-discussed details of how the political beat can affect her personal life.  "I only get to about half of the dinner dates I set," she said.  "Planning to go out with other journalists is easy, because they understand how news breaks," but plans with others can often be broken.  As the first real journalist with which the group had a chance to dialogue, Ms. Markoe entertained questions from all sides, before hurrying out to talk to Senator Hollings.

Crossfire

The afternoon highlight was the live broadcast of CNN's "Crossfire."  More accurately, the highlight was the chance to talk privately with hosts Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala in the Green Room following the show.  The pair fielded a few questions from the group and asked a few of their own, wondering what the students thought of the format.

"Crossfire's" new afternoon format includes a chance for audience members to ask questions for the hosts, and on this day, that opportunity was afforded to Chris McDonald, a PhD candidate in Mass Communications.  In front of a live national audience, Chris asked the hosts about the promises of September 12, 2001, when the two parties assured the American people that partisan politics would not affect the homeland security of the nation.  Begala and Carlson each offered a quip as the show wrapped and CNN moved on to Wolf Blitzer.

While the "Crossfire" trip was certainly an exciting way to end the day, the trips through the congressional offices left perhaps the larger impact on the group. 

The analogy that has been repeated several times is that watching Congressional politics is like watching sausage being made - it's not a pretty sight, but at least you know what's in it.  As painful as it is, I'd rather watch Congressional politics.  At least then I can still eat sausage for breakfast.

Lessons Learned

Congressmen have an understanding of nuance - it is necessary to do their jobs.  It is much harder to communicate that nuance in the limited space of the news media.  Congressmen spend years working out the details of their projects; the news media have a limited amount of time and space to reach their audience.  As media practitioners, we may need to develop new ways (perhaps more visual ways) to communicate the issues to the public.