All Things CNN: Holidays Cut Short

Reuters posted an article this morning about the impact that this accelerated election season has had on journalists & the holidays. Below are a few excerpts that contained comments from CNN journalists past and present.

After a couple days off for Christmas, TV journalists on the campaign trail are hunkered down in Des Moines through New Year's and the Iowa caucus on Thursday.
Said Jeff Greenfield, CBS News chief political correspondent and a veteran of many presidential campaigns, "It definitely screws up many vacations."
That's something new, said CNN senior political correspondent Candy Crowley.
"In years past, you had a little breathing room," she said. "This year, you don't." For Crowley, that meant buying gift cards for loved ones this year and rushing to figure out what to do about Christmas dinner for her grown children in the few days she had at home before the holiday.
Not that anyone's complaining much. For political journalists such as Greenfield and Crowley, this is it. Greenfield said the 2008 campaign has been one of the most interesting he's ever covered.
Photo by Scott Wintrow/Getty Images
"This one for a whole lot of reasons is right up there," he said. "We are wide open on both parties, and we are possibly going to nominate and/or elect a woman or a black or a Mormon or an Italian-American president -- none of which has ever happened. On that level alone, it's fascinating."
"Now it's pretty frenetic until the 6th of February, after Super Duper Tuesday," Crowley said. "Then it goes into hibernation while they raise money and figure out what the spring campaign will look like. There will be a lull. There's an end to this craziness in February."
There's "Christmas in Connecticut" and "Autumn in New York," but CBS News' Greenfield noted that there's no precedent for this.
"Nobody wrote a song called 'New Year's Eve in Des Moines,'" Greenfield said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Still looking for more holiday cheer? Larry King's podcast this week features musical performances from Celine Dion, James Blunt and Angels and Airwaves.