The end is nigh.
For political junkies, the prospect of going cold turkey on Nov. 4 is terrifying--understandably so. In a new series for NEWSWEEK.com, a group of the magazine's political scribes went on camera to discuss life after Election Day--including yours truly. Whether you're horrified (like me, at least a little) at the prospect of life without Stumper or simply horrified at the sight of my sallow, unshaven visage (the medical term for it is "Blogger's Tan"), I thought I'd post the video here. Consider it my contribution to the All Hallow's (and Election) Eve fright-fest.
Not scary enough for you? Then I'd heartily recommend reading Julia Ioffe's wonderful story over at the New Republic about "what.. covering a two-year campaign do[es] to the soul of a journalist." It's full of post-election speculation from luminaries like Candy Crowley, Ryan Lizza, Hendrik Hertzberg, Ben Smith and, rather incongruously, me. Warning: navel-gazing ahead:
Younger journalists who came of age in this election are anxious for more personal reasons. Andrew Romano came to Newsweek to do long feature pieces but was conscripted as a blogger. "I'm not one of these crazy political junkies," he told me after another long blogging shift, in which he struggled not to say, "Obama is winning today, too." "It's not my life... [So] for a long time I was feeling like, 'I'm looking forward to this being over and going back to writing long-form journalism as opposed to writing multiple stories every day.'" But then a funny thing happened. His blog, long buried on Newsweek's website, started drawing nearly four million hits a month, making Romano the site's most-read author. "It's kind of like, this is who I am now. So the idea of the campaign being over and not doing a politics blog is a little bit like, who am I after this election?"
Spoooooky. Or, you know, not.
Which reminds me. My NEWSWEEK colleague Sarah Kliff has a new story up about other political junkies are preparing for withdrawal. But I'd be interested to hear how you, loyal Stumper readers, are coping. Afraid or relieved? Or a little of both? The comments, as always, are all yours.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
