June 2, 2005

WASHINGTON -

My adventures in Washington ended last week, with a final story covering the European Commission's trade woes with China followed by cake at the newsroom. Afterwards, a group of the remaining interns got together at the Press Club for one last tear-filled round of drinks, memories and free tacos. We flashed some photos, gallivanted around the White House, then said our goodbyes at the Metro station.

But before all that happened, I got to witness some history.

The filibuster feud ended exactly how most arguments in Congress end - in an anticlimactic compromise. Depending on who you ask, that's a good or bad thing. My opinion aside, it was still great beltway drama.

On the eve of the expected cloture vote on filibusters against judge Priscilla Owen, my editor sent me down to the Hill to help our beleaguered Senate Leadership reporter in the 24-hour debate.  Needless to say a sleepover in the Senate sounds pretty fun. At about 7: 30 p.m. word started spreading that Sens. McCain, Byrd & co. were going to hold a press conference with a compromise we were anticipating.

The stampede of reporters and TV crews was like it came straight from the movies, folks. We were all power walking through the hallway, fumbling with our pens and pads and tripods, to the TV & Radio room. After a few moments the senators came in, handed out their compromise, and the nuclear option was defused... for now, anyway.  Even our dear Senator Lindsey Graham was part of the action.  Do I smell a presidential run in 2012? (Practically everyone smells a presidential run on a politician these days.)

So my mammoth excursion into Our Nation's Capital was part sight-seeing, part history, part internship. I certainly gained friends and colleagues in the best place to practice my trade. One can certainly say the bedrock of journalism is the connections between you and your story, and that involves other reporters, too.

I've also gained an appreciation for public transportation and discovered that our politicians are just like us, only slightly ill with a case of Potomac fever. Regardless of the quirks and intricacies of Washington life, I now know where my career path should and must lead me - right back to the District. The grand scale of national politics is intoxicating to me, and in choosing journalism as a career I did not expect to settle for anything less than covering some part of it.

So I'm pretty much about "journalism'd" out right now, so I'll close this blog out.  It's been a fantastic experience, one I hope to repeat soon in the context of an actual job.  I recommend that everyone visit, work in, or just plain live in D.C.  

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