Every four years in January, the political universe revolves around New Hampshire, which means incessant phone calls and 16-hour days for Rockefeller Center director and government professor Linda Fowler.
In addition to her everyday role at the Rockefeller Center, Fowler is the point person at the College for local, national and international media in search of political expertise. Additionally, Fowler, her staff and other departments of the College are busy preparing for Sunday's Lifetime/ABC debate in Moore Theatre.
Fowler said that the most time-consuming aspect of pre-primary week is the media. Her assistant Fayan Nelson said Fowler could spend the entire day returning phone calls from media, some from as far away as Great Britain and Australia.
"What's really stressful about this week every four years are the requests from media all over the world," she said.
But the national print media such as USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times and The Boston Globe require the most effort, as they are on short deadlines. This week, Fowler was quoted in The New York Times on three consecutive days.
According to Fowler, most members of the press ask the same questions every day. This Tuesday, reporters wanted Fowler's opinion on how the Iowa caucus results will affect the New Hampshire primaries, while Wednesday they focused on North Carolina Sen. John Edwards' chances in the state. Fowler, however, is avoiding questions about Howard Dean's emotional post-caucus speech.
Fowler began her Wednesday morning with a daily conference call regarding the preparations for Sunday's debate. She then had a meeting with College Provost Barry Scherr regarding the Rockefeller Center, followed by a New Hampshire public television interview about undeclared voters. Fowler attended a meeting with a colleague before conducting a series of telephone interviews with reporters. She is also working on a visit by Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan, who will give a lecture Jan. 26. Fowler is not teaching a class this term, but she still needs to attend important government department meetings.
And while the New Hampshire primary shines the national spotlight on the state, the College and Fowler, she is deeply critical of the nominating process. In addition, while the media ask for her opinions, she said she is not comfortable as a Washington pundit.
In a presentation to the mostly elderly audience of the Dartmouth Club of the Upper Valley at the Top of the Hop Tuesday night, Fowler criticized the horse-race mentality of the primary process, and she reserved bitter venom for the media. Instead of focusing on issues and ideas, which most voters truly care about, the media mainly reports on campaigns' strategy and tactics, she said.
"The media focuses on strategy and tactics, which news junkies find interesting, but no one else does," she said.
She pointed out that two mostly homogenous states have the power to winnow down the fields in a country which many project will be majority-minority by 2020. Candidates will spend a year campaigning in Iowa and New Hampshire, while other states receive only a few weeks.
She did emphasize with the enormous personal strain on candidates running for President, who need to devote upwards of a year to the process. They must endure exhausting schedules, but receive sharp criticism if they seem tired on the campaign trail.
"We look down upon ambition, but we demand only the most ambitious, who will go through this process," she said.
When asked whether she would return to the "smoke-filled rooms," instead of the open process that exists now, Fowler said yes.
Prior to coming to Dartmouth, Fowler worked in Congress, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Maxwell School for Public Policy at Syracuse University.
