An Insider’s View of the Presidential Campaign

Award-winning author, television commentator and columnist for the Washington Post Jeffrey Birnbaum, visited Westminster Jan. 9 and 10 to give his insight on the 2008 presidential election process. He has covered political campaigns for more than 20 years.

He met with parents at a reception in Hinman Reading Room Wednesday evening and made a presentation to the entire Westminster community on Thursday.

In his formal remarks, he explained how the delegation process works, why the primary process is compressed this year and how the country is in the middle of the most important time in selecting the next president.

“American politics is about the American people trying to find its voice personified in a person,” he explained. “Elections are a journey of America in search of itself in a series of contests, each different from the other, but about where we are and where we want to go.”

He also talked about change as the current election’s watchword and why he thinks the American electorate wants change. Among the reasons he cited were widespread perceptions that the 2000 presidential election was stolen and the resulting concerns about whether the government would hold together; insecurities and questions of trust in the government created by 9/11; and the undermining of trust in the economy created by the bankruptcy of Enron. “After this wrenching period, there was a major change in how America viewed itself,” he explained.

“Elections are the times the American people can express themselves and tell elected leaders what problems they want solved,” he added. “Politics is the way our elected leaders set our priorities.”
Jeff thinks the American public has decided that Washington doesn’t work anymore and is looking for people who might have a way out of the problem. “They are looking for a new leader with a new vision,” he said. “What each candidate offers is a different sense of where America is and where it might be headed. Each of the candidates represents a view of America.”

After the presentation, Jeff met with students in AP Comparative Government classes and answered questions about campaign financing, what makes a successful presidential candidate, what went wrong in the New Hampshire polls, and why elections are about major issues and not policy issues.

“Elections are about appealing to a variety of constituents in a variety of ways,” he told the students. “It is about many things. It is also about broad themes and waves of opinion that overwhelm other smaller issues. You have the responsibility to keep informed on these issues.”
In a luncheon with members of the faculty after his presentation, Jeff talked about how reporters cover the candidates on the campaign trail, the areas of focus in his reporting and his possible plans to write another book.

Prior to joining the Post, Jeff spent seven years as the chief of Fortune magazine’s Washington bureau and two years as a senior political correspondent for Time. Before joining Time, he worked for the Wall Street Journal, including serving was as its White House correspondent.

On television, Jeff is a political analyst for Fox News Channel and is a regular panelist on PBS’s “Washington Week.” On radio, he serves as a commentator for the national business show, “Marketplace,” appears regularly on Fox News Radio and comments every Monday morning on WBZ in Boston.

He also is the author of four books: “The Money Men,” “Showdown at Gucci Gulch,” “The Lobbyists” and “Madhouse.” In 1994, he won the Aldo Bechman Memorial Award for excellence in feature writing about the White House. He graduated magna cum laude as an English major from the University of Pennsylvania.