The boys and girls on the Zoom

[brooklynite]

Politico

In the mythology of political journalism, covering a presidential campaign is supposed to be a window into the soul of America.

In the reality of the 2020 campaign, Alexandra Jaffe of the Associated Press has a window into the courtyard of her building off H Street NE in Washington, D.C. That’s the view from her junior one-bedroom apartment, not too far from Capitol Hill.

n 2016, Jaffe, then with NBC, spent the cycle as what campaign reporters call an “embed.” She spent much of her time on the Trump campaign plane—up and down, over and over—and when she wasn’t there she was on the road trying to educate herself, and her audience, on the politics of Ohio.

In 2020, she ruefully acknowledges, “Gosh, I basically cover the campaign from my couch.”