Patrick Healy is worried about the state of the U.S. election system.
After spending much of the past two years on the campaign trail covering the 2008 presidential election for The New York Times, Healy said he questions whether the campaign process has become too long and drawn out.
“You know the sense that the next campaign starts the day after the last one ends?” he said. “Is that really what American voters want? Is it just all too much?”
Healy said many politicians have become accustomed to running non-stop campaigns and fighting “the combat of politics” rather than focusing on governing.
“Politicians sort of live in that (campaign) world full time,” Healy said. “Whereas actually getting things done in Washington can be a lot more frustrating and slow.”
Healy said he plans to discuss this notion of a perpetual campaign, as well as give behind-the-scenes stories from the election, during his speech at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts tonight. The speech, titled a “Post-election discussion,” begins at 7 p.m. in the UMFA auditorium. The Associated Students of the University of Utah is sponsoring the visit.
As The Times’ chief correspondent assigned to Sen. Hillary Clinton’s campaign during the primaries, many of Healy’s memories and observations revolve around Clinton’s failed presidential bid.
After Clinton lost the closely contested Democratic primary to now President-elect Barack Obama in the spring, Healy worked as a general election reporter covering Obama’s campaign as well as that of Republican presidential candidate John McCain.
He said the major differences he noticed between Clinton’s and Obama’s campaigns revolved largely around staffing problems and changes in message: Clinton’s staff was shaken up several times, and her message evolved from one of strength and experience to change and eventually a more populist appeal.
“With Hillary, her message and thrust of her campaign changed several different times, which is always kind of a point of concern for a candidate,” Healy said.
Meanwhile, Obama remained fairly constant on both fronts, Healy said.
Healy also experienced wrangling that went on between the Clinton campaign and reporters near the end of the primaries, when Clinton staffers accused the media of favoritism toward Obama. Following the campaign for nearly 17 months, Healy said he often woke up to several messages and e-mails from campaign staffers criticizing the day’s story and trying to influence his coverage from the get-go.
“I think from their point of view, they felt like I was tough on her, tough on their campaign,” he said.
This “gamesmanship” between reporters and campaign staffers was a lively source of debate on the Clinton campaign plane, Healy said. He started to recount one incident where he said Clinton staffers and journalists had a “colorful” debate over whether Chelsea Clinton’s conversations with journalists on the plane would be considered off the record, but decided to save the rest of the story for tonight’s speech.
Although Healy isn’t as familiar with Obama’s campaign, he said the question of whether the lengthy presidential campaign was worthwhile depends on Obama’s ability to deliver on his promises.
“If nothing happens, you know, after two years of the Obama administration, I think a lot of voters and some reporters will look back at the two years spent campaigning and say, “What was all that,'” he said.
Patrick Healy