Second Half of YDS Interview with Connie Schultz About Campaign Book

The second half of my interview with Connie Schultz is now posted on the State sub-page. The first half is located here.

In the second half we continued our discussion of her new book about the 2006 Senate campaign of her husband Sherrod Brown, due out on June 19th. Schultz describes in detail the evening when she and Sherrod decided that he would run (inspired by watching "The West Wing"), and recounts the promises they made to each other about the campaign. She describes the origins of her political views, and how those views (and one particular episode) shaped her approach to campaigning. She addresses Brown's controversial vote on the Military Commissions Act late in the campaign, and identifies an issue where she and her spouse cannot agree. She describes her negative reaction to comments by James Carville at a fundraiser, relates her moving and sometimes hilarious encounters with voters on the campaign trail, and details her criticisms of journalists and bloggers. We hear about the "plagiarism" flap early in the campaign and the "marijuana-laced banana" allegation in the final candidates debate, and the moment when she knew that it was all but over. In this part of the interview we also talked about topics beyond the book and the campaign, including how she first met her husband, thoughts on winning the Pulitzer Prize, and returning to writing her column.

Read the second half of the interview.

Yellow Dog Sammy Interviews Connie Schultz About Campaign Book

The first half of my interview with Connie Schultz about her forthcoming book on the Senate campaign is now posted on the State sub-page. The interview occurred back on January 29th, a few weeks after I had travelled to Washington for Sherrod Brown's swearing in ceremony. Schultz was then just about finished with her first draft of the book, which is scheduled for release in hardcover on June 19th.

I thought of the interview as a preliminary to her eventual book tour, so we talked extensively about her writing process and how the book developed over the course of the campaign. It was a long conversation with a number of surprises. In this part of the interview we learn the origin of the idea for the book (and it didn't occur to Schultz first), the story of the title, the important role of Moleskine notebooks, thoughts on political journalists and on bloggers, the hardship of taking a leave from writing her column, and some insights into Brown's delayed entry into the race (Schultz was the holdout, and she wanted her husband to go ahead and say so). Schultz gives us a candid look at the private moments she shared with her spouse behind the scenes, including a hilarious early morning episode involving toothpaste, and glimpses of the tremendous strain and anguish they endured, particularly in connection with the loss of Schultz' father early in the campaign. And, we find out what cable TV show they watched on DVD to help provide a late-night distraction.

Read the interview.