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Monday, October 9, 2006

The Photographer from Baltimore

posted by on October 9 at 17:22 PM

Seattle Times reporter David Postman has a riff on his blog about a GOP press release that went out today, headlined: “Have You Seen This Woman?” The release dings Sen. Maria Cantwell for avoiding the press, citing articles on the Cantwell/McGavick race in which Cantwell wasn’t available for a comment.

This gives me an opportunity to get into some stuff (and tell a little anecdote) that I left on the editing room floor for the the story I did on Cantwell last week.

First of all, I got off to a bad start in my interview with Cantwell because I began by saying, “I know you don’t do a lot of interviews, so I appreciate…” and she immediately cut me off, throwing an irritated look at her press aide (as if to say, ‘Well, this guy’s an ass,’) and then back to me: “We do a lot of interviews…it seems like every day of the week…” I clumsily apologized, saying, “Okay, you do a lot of interviews, but still, I appreciate it…” and she said flatly, “Okay.”

The reason I went into the interview thinking Cantwell was press shy was because I talked to several beat reporters to get their sense of her, and everybody had a lot of bitching to do about how she doesn’t give interviews.

Indeed, here’s a paragraph that didn’t make it into my final story.

Several beat reporters in DC agree, saying that her press team is paralyzed by Cantwell’s awkwardness, and so her message outreach is disorganized and haphazard. “It’s unclear what’s going on over there,” says one longtime beat writer. “She wouldn’t even say no to an interview, but eventually you’d just get blown off without explanation.” Says another: “I was even trying to write something that was favorable to her campaign, and she wouldn’t talk. It’s just weird.”

Here’s an anecdote from my trip to D.C. that I’ve been telling folks to sum up my sense of Cantwell’s odd personality. I had told the photographer to show up about 15 minutes into the interview so that he could just slip in, catch the interview in progress, take a few shots of Cantwell gabbing away, and slip out. So when I showed up at Cantwell’s office for the interview, I told Cantwell’s staff that a photographer would be showing up in about 15 minutes. Then I went into her office.

Like clockwork, in the middle of the Q&A, this guy walks into Cantwell’s office. He’s a definite photographer “type”: a big, bald punkish guy, futzing with his equipment. Cantwell was a little thrown off that some guy with a camera was walking into her office, and she interrupted the interview and said… “Hi…Uh…hi? …I’m Maria.”

Photographer: “I’m Jefferson.”
Cantwell: “Where are you from?” (As in: Who are you with?)
Photographer: “I live in Baltimore.”
Cantwell (disarmed): “…Okay.”

RSS icon Comments

1

It's not just personal awkwardness that makes Cantwell's press outreach "disorganized and haphazard." She didn't even tell Josh how she was voting on a bill less than an hour before she voted. Every time I have sent her a letter as a constituent, the response is always "Thanks for writing on this important issue, I'll take your opinion into consideration as I decide how to vote..." I don't recall ever getting a constituent letter that said here's how I'm voting and why. It's amazing that such a notoriously judgmental and gruff person can at the same time be so mealy-mouthed and mercurial.

Posted by wf | October 9, 2006 6:22 PM
2

I'm not sure who is more awkward after reading this, Josh and the photog or Maria. My impression of her is that she is smart, very busy, no nonsense, cuts to the chase, and frankly, a necessarily a bit of a bitch. When the photog responded "Baltimore," she was probably thinking, "Okay, you're an idiot, but you must be here with the guy who says I never do interviews."

On the other hand, there is that commercial with her on the porch in what appears to be a hurricane (or at least a dust devil).

Posted by Talk About Awkward | October 9, 2006 9:39 PM
3

Sounds like a pretty "high brow" chick.
http://digitalartphotographyfordummies.blogspot.com

Posted by digital traveler | October 10, 2006 12:30 AM
4

‘Well, this guy’s an ass,’

Posted by Senator Cantwell got one thing right | October 10, 2006 10:54 AM
5

I've always found her friendly - but a bit shy - in person. But they spend a lot of time fundraising and doing interviews, so you did come across as kind of clueless.

Posted by Will in Seattle | October 10, 2006 11:14 AM
6

The thing that a lot of people find disconcerting about Maria is that they're expecting a politician to be a back-slapping, baby-kissing, glad-hander, and she is not. She tends to be very focused on whoever she is speaking to at that moment, and not particularly adept at handling abrupt interruptions. Some politicians are very good at dealing with multiple conversations at one time, because they really aren't listening to any of them, but Maria actually LISTENS to you when you're talking. It's an unusual trait in a politician, and it's off-putting if you're expecting the usual shallow pretense of conviviality. She's not tremendously gregarious, which makes her stand out as a politician. Most of them are very gregarious, VERY egotistical, and very facile. She is not.

Posted by Geni | October 10, 2006 2:53 PM

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