Hey there, and welcome to NEWSWEEK’s new politics blog. It's called
Stumper—as in, "stump: n. the figurative place of political
speechmaking" or "stump: v. to make political campaign speeches;
electioneer." You wouldn't believe how long it took us to come up with
that.
(And no, it has nothing to do with Thumper, Bambi’s helpful bunny sidekick. Not that there’s anything wrong with Thumper.)
I'm
Andrew Romano. I’ve worked for Newsweek since June 2004 and served as a
member of the National Affairs reporting team since early 2006. That
said, I’ve never blogged before, so bear with me as I get my footing.
If you need to know more, click the Bio link in the upper left-hand
corner of the page. It’s a gripping read.
Now, about Stumper.
This
site is meant mostly for ordinary voters. The Web is home to dozens of
brilliant, hardcore blogs brimming with FEC stats and leaked campaign
memos. Blogs that cater to people who live and breathe (and work in)
politics. But I’m not a “Beltway insider,” and neither are most of you.
I just happen to have the time and resources to devote to
helping you follow the latest political headlines—and figure
out what they mean.
Many of the most popular blogs on the
Internets are partisan. Stumper isn’t. That presents something of a
challenge—good writing, especially good Web writing, is strong, engaged
and unapologetic, and that comes somewhat naturally when a writer
expresses his or her personal opinions. So how will Stumper make
impartiality, like, totally compelling?
- On-the-ground
reporting. NEWSWEEK.com, unlike most mom-and-pop sites on the Web, is
willing to send me wherever, whenever. And I’m willing to go. Expect
vivid, original (I hope) dispatches from the campaign trail each week.
I’ll file them under the tag “Onscener.”
- Equal-opportunity
skepticism. I received an email today from a Stumper reader who said,
“It doesn't take long to figure out that there is no love lost between
you and Romney.” He was reacting to a recent item or two I'd written mocking Mitt, and went on to ask, “Is there anything about
Romney that you do like? Who is the candidate that you prefer?” Here’s
the honest truth: I don’t really “like” or “prefer” any of the
candidates. Yes, I have political views. But I’m interested in covering
politics, not practicing politics. Meaning that when I make fun of some
silly thing Romney has said, it’s because I think it was a silly thing
to say. I’ll do the same for Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Rudy
Giuliani and the rest of them. When they say something smart, I’ll note
that, too. There's more to life than snark.
That’s the Stumper manifesto, or the
closest thing to it. Nowadays, a lot of people gravitate toward media
outlets that echo and reinforce their own points of view. I've always found such insularity sort of boring. I hope you
stick with Stumper even when I knock your favorite candidate or praise
someone you can’t stand, and argue with me (and each other) in the comments section of the site. But that’s a privilege I have to earn. I’ll be
here five (or more) days a week from now until (at least) next
November--working to do just that.
Send tips, complaints, ideas and marriage proposals to aromano@newsweek.com.
Thanks for reading,
Andrew