Every day , you see the cost of the campaign trail in the eyes of Hillary and The Donald . But it ’s as as grueling for the security details , the journalists , and the campaign staff member who attach to them . From the source of crusade season ( which now stretches to more than a year before Election Day ) until a success is declared in November , a rotating cast of reporters and lensman shadow the candidates as they trip the country . Yes , it sound glamourous to hop on private jet with a person who may soon be Chief Executive . And , yes , after doing that for months , the shininess put on off .
We spoke with Andrew Harnik , an awarding - win Associated Press lensman who this year has been assign to the Hillary Clinton cause , and previously has insure the White House and the 2012 presidential race . He give way us some perceptiveness on what it ’s like to be on the route with a presidential hopeful .
Fifteen-hour days are the norm
Our days are absurd . From the time I stir up up until the time I go to sleep , I ’m pretty much going the whole time . There are twenty-four hour period when you ’ll meet at a private airfield , cast your udder on the plane , and vanish to , say , Pittsburgh . Then you motorcade to an event , take pictures for an hour , then motorcade back to an airport and fell somewhere else . And then do it again . And maybe again .
You do have a general estimate how long you ’ll be gone . A typical swing – where a campaigner give out to multiple cities in a few days – starts Sunday nighttime . Then you ’ll go to as many as three cities a day , then finish by Thursday or Friday . Then ( Hillary ) will go home to New York or DC for a few days – I go home too , then they ’ll send someone else out with her for the next vacillation . But sometimes it ’s longsighted . For illustration , when I go to the pattern , I was told I ’d be in Philly then follow her for two weeks .
Some the great unwashed I know are on the route so much they ’ve given up their apartment . On their downtime they ’ll go visit Quaker or take two- to three - day " vacation . "
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Pack light, and carry a smart bag
We aviate private a great deal , but sometimes at the beginning of a swing I ’ll vanish commercial-grade . So you acquire to carry light . I ’ve hear how to bundle a hebdomad ’s Charles Frederick Worth of clobber into a carry - on , like a medium - sized duffle bag . Then my “ personal point ” is for my gear . It opens you up so you’re able to move much easier , like take ghost flight where you book a stumble that unite through your final address . It ’s often a fortune bum than a nonstop to that metropolis .
I typically travel with two photographic camera and two lenses , a laptop with an external severe ride , wires , chargers , and a laptop computer bag . That laptop computer bag is pretty neat – it ’s a shapeshifter that ’s fairly small but has an accordion - style zipper that opens to be three times the size . When I travel I keep my camera equipment in there as well , so it open into one liberal old bag and I carry just that and my duffel on board .
Friends and family don’t understand your schedule
One of the hardest things is explaining to multitude how fast - paced the whole experience is . People think I ’m sitting around for hours with nothing to do , but in fact we have almost no downtime because as soon as an outcome is over , we ’re on the move to the next metropolis . And even if I ’m in a city where I have booster or family unit , I ca n’t pull to meet up ahead of time . We get our schedules the night before . So people get unrestrained when I arrive at them up last second like , “ Oh , hey , I ’m in Nashville tonight . You busy ? ” But that ’s just the way it runs .
Hillary requires less gear than Trump
I travel in a pixilated syndicate , so we can somewhat much get in Hillary ’s bubble and not need a bunch of big , cumbersome lenses to get the right shooting . Each person in the pool has been vetted , so the Secret Service gives us a little more cartel , and we can get a batch closer .
Now , with Trump , it ’s unlike .
Typically prospect countenance photographer get to wreak in what ’s called “ the buffer , " that expanse between the microscope stage and the bunch . With Trump , you ’re required to stay on this back riser pipeline that ’s sometimes 100 yards or more from the stage . Then they ’ll take photographers in small group up to the buffer for one to two minute at a time , then you have to go back to the riser . So for most candidates , you could get forth with using a 35 mm lens . For Trump , you need 400 - 600 mm crystalline lens , and those are vast .
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You interact more early in the campaign
You ’re always trying to search for something beyond the campaign address , seek to find moments that humanize the candidates . They always have it away that there ’s a camera there , but to try out to enamour an off - guarded nice present moment , and early on in the campaign that ’s much easy . In Iowa , you had guys like Rick Santorum literally going around from town to Ithiel Town in cartridge trucks and you could just go in the truck and take ikon .
One afternoon I was shoot Marco Rubio pushing his minor on a sled in Iowa . I was using a rapid climb lens to get him on the top of the hill , and I was n’t paying attention to where his boy was headed after he pushed him . I could n’t see him in my lens , but I hear Rubio say , “ search out ! You ’re going proper for him ! ” And I literally had to leap to the side at the last second to avoid getting completely taken out by his Word . That video cuts out right before I jumped . ( observe : that ’s at the 0:13 mark of the video above . )
When I follow Hillary it ’s just kind of like she ’s on , I ’m on , and there ’s no substantial fundamental interaction . There ’s no “ how ’s it going ? ” and you do n’t get to shoot the breeze like you could at the beginning .
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You wonder who’d actually want the job of president
I get to see how grueling candidature for president is . But I ’ve journey with Obama too – and covered him in Washington – and you see what an fearful , stressful , demanding job the presidential term really is . Do n’t get me wrong , I see maybe 2 to 3 % of the president ’s day . But even that ’s enough .
For example , I traveled with him once to Alaska . We aviate maybe eight hours there and as soon as we put down , he had to be going , 100 % , the full time . Fully up to date on everything get going on in the world , and having a response and position to every issuing . essentially , there ’s no downtime on those flights , it ’s all just getting briefed and educate reaction .
Christmas is the worst . I ’m relatively convinced anyone who ’s ever been president hates this holiday more than anything . Because after a full day of briefings , mechanical press conference , and making conclusion that literally impress the full world , you ’ve stimulate ta cast off a company EVERY DAMN NIGHT . And not just like a dinner party where you toy with your friends . A party where there ’s a receiving line of literally 300 people , each of whom you ’ve got to make feel special for 15 second while they take a picture they ’ll keep frame for the eternal sleep of their lives . Reagan used to do like 12 of these . Obama ’s cut it down .
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Every day I ’m on the campaign track and see these people work so hard for this chore , I earnestly wonder why anybody would ever want it .
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