This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-34537116
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| From Phuket to Las Vegas with Hillary Clinton | From Phuket to Las Vegas with Hillary Clinton |
| (2 days later) | |
| Pop music was blasting in the hotel lobby, the foliage of wide potted trees formed an arch over the white marble entrance. The poker tables and slot machines were already well attended, though it was only 11 in the morning. | Pop music was blasting in the hotel lobby, the foliage of wide potted trees formed an arch over the white marble entrance. The poker tables and slot machines were already well attended, though it was only 11 in the morning. |
| I wasn't sure whether the women in heavy make-up and the men in shorts and sports shoes were just starting the day or still going strong after a long night of gambling. | I wasn't sure whether the women in heavy make-up and the men in shorts and sports shoes were just starting the day or still going strong after a long night of gambling. |
| I was in Las Vegas to cover the first Democratic debate and Sin City struck me as the strangest of locations to host a national political event. | I was in Las Vegas to cover the first Democratic debate and Sin City struck me as the strangest of locations to host a national political event. |
| But it was a great source of puns. What cards were the candidates going to play in the debate? Was Hillary Clinton's luck finally going to turn after a tough summer? | But it was a great source of puns. What cards were the candidates going to play in the debate? Was Hillary Clinton's luck finally going to turn after a tough summer? |
| It wasn't the first time I found myself in an incongruous location trailing behind Mrs Clinton. | It wasn't the first time I found myself in an incongruous location trailing behind Mrs Clinton. |
| I spent four years covering her when she was secretary of state, flying on a government plane, and our travels took us to the four corners of the world - to presidential palaces and seaside resorts like Phuket in Thailand for an Asian summit. | I spent four years covering her when she was secretary of state, flying on a government plane, and our travels took us to the four corners of the world - to presidential palaces and seaside resorts like Phuket in Thailand for an Asian summit. |
| In our formal work clothes and shoes, we lugged our suitcases and laptop bags across the sand beach in the sweltering humid summer heat to get to our bungalows with a hammock but no desk. | In our formal work clothes and shoes, we lugged our suitcases and laptop bags across the sand beach in the sweltering humid summer heat to get to our bungalows with a hammock but no desk. |
| Swapping motorcades for rental cars | Swapping motorcades for rental cars |
| Now, here I was in a plush casino, in Nevada, the Silver State. Dinner options still included excellent Thai food but at a nearby restaurant in a somewhat dreary strip mall just off the main boulevard. Covering Mrs Clinton's bid for president has already taken me to other exotic locations like Little Rock, Arkansas. | Now, here I was in a plush casino, in Nevada, the Silver State. Dinner options still included excellent Thai food but at a nearby restaurant in a somewhat dreary strip mall just off the main boulevard. Covering Mrs Clinton's bid for president has already taken me to other exotic locations like Little Rock, Arkansas. |
| Gone are the motorcades with sirens ferrying us and the secretary of state through world capitals or the press vans waiting for us on the tarmac of international airports and the state department officials shepherding us around. It sounds glamorous, but we also slept in trailers on the US embassy compounds in Islamabad and Kabul and ate countless packed lunches hunched over our laptops. | Gone are the motorcades with sirens ferrying us and the secretary of state through world capitals or the press vans waiting for us on the tarmac of international airports and the state department officials shepherding us around. It sounds glamorous, but we also slept in trailers on the US embassy compounds in Islamabad and Kabul and ate countless packed lunches hunched over our laptops. |
| I'm one of only two correspondents who used to travel with then-Secretary of State Clinton and now cover her as a presidential candidate. For us these days, it's all rental cars, motels, diner food, long drives on highways and a logistical challenge for the American reporters who are embedded with Mrs Clinton's campaign and attend all her events. | I'm one of only two correspondents who used to travel with then-Secretary of State Clinton and now cover her as a presidential candidate. For us these days, it's all rental cars, motels, diner food, long drives on highways and a logistical challenge for the American reporters who are embedded with Mrs Clinton's campaign and attend all her events. |
| There is no campaign bus or plane yet, so it's up to the reporters to keep up with her. | There is no campaign bus or plane yet, so it's up to the reporters to keep up with her. |
| At the start of the campaign, Mrs Clinton did some travel on commercial planes (and very briefly in a van) but trying to fit the needs of campaigning across states around the schedule of commercial airlines proved impossible, so she now uses a private jet. | At the start of the campaign, Mrs Clinton did some travel on commercial planes (and very briefly in a van) but trying to fit the needs of campaigning across states around the schedule of commercial airlines proved impossible, so she now uses a private jet. |
| After spending Wednesday covering her post-debate events in Nevada, reporters had to get an overnight flight and then drive three hours to catch up with her in Texas, where she was campaigning on Thursday. | After spending Wednesday covering her post-debate events in Nevada, reporters had to get an overnight flight and then drive three hours to catch up with her in Texas, where she was campaigning on Thursday. |
| Agonies | Agonies |
| Although I have a driving licence, I had never driven outside of my home country of Lebanon, where traffic lights are still optional and lane stripes a mere suggestion. I had managed to avoid driving in the US until the presidential campaign kicked off. | |
| But public transportation doesn't get you very far or very fast in this country. So getting to a brewery in Hampton, New Hampshire this spring, on my own, to attend an event that Mrs Clinton was holding, proved nerve-wracking as I focused intently on staying in my lane while worrying about missing key traffic signs. | But public transportation doesn't get you very far or very fast in this country. So getting to a brewery in Hampton, New Hampshire this spring, on my own, to attend an event that Mrs Clinton was holding, proved nerve-wracking as I focused intently on staying in my lane while worrying about missing key traffic signs. |
| I've relaxed a bit since and can occasionally glance at the stunning scenery and the autumn leaves. The diversity in the US still astounds me and travelling from quaint, quiet DC to the Sin City in Nevada feels like landing in another country. | I've relaxed a bit since and can occasionally glance at the stunning scenery and the autumn leaves. The diversity in the US still astounds me and travelling from quaint, quiet DC to the Sin City in Nevada feels like landing in another country. |
| Covering foreign policy is also a world away from covering domestic politics. | Covering foreign policy is also a world away from covering domestic politics. |
| I suffered some agonies going from the poised work of a State Department correspondent, sitting down for numerous substantive interviews with the secretary of state about world events to standing in the corner of a wood-panelled diner in New Hampshire, in a scrum of cameras, screaming, "Madam Secretary, Madam Secretary, a question for the BBC!" | |
| 'Foreign' countries | 'Foreign' countries |
| In September 2014, months before she announced her candidacy, Mrs Clinton went to Iowa for her first big political event since she had left the State Department. When I told her I was going to attend, she burst out laughing. "Kim! You know that's not a foreign country." | In September 2014, months before she announced her candidacy, Mrs Clinton went to Iowa for her first big political event since she had left the State Department. When I told her I was going to attend, she burst out laughing. "Kim! You know that's not a foreign country." |
| I had never been to Iowa so the cornfields and bales of hay seemed pretty foreign to me. But I also wondered whether it felt like travelling back to a foreign country for her, after four years out of domestic politics. | I had never been to Iowa so the cornfields and bales of hay seemed pretty foreign to me. But I also wondered whether it felt like travelling back to a foreign country for her, after four years out of domestic politics. |
| She hadn't been in Iowa since she had lost the state caucuses to Barack Obama in 2008, a moment she described as "excruciating" in her recent memoir. When she took the stage, she appeared out of practice - her performance stilted. | She hadn't been in Iowa since she had lost the state caucuses to Barack Obama in 2008, a moment she described as "excruciating" in her recent memoir. When she took the stage, she appeared out of practice - her performance stilted. |
| As America's diplomat-in-chief, Mrs Clinton travelled in a bubble, surrounded by her staff and diplomatic security officers, and only met ordinary citizens in highly controlled settings, on university campuses or round tables organised by US embassies. There was one pub crawl in Dublin that probably gave her security detail cold sweats. | As America's diplomat-in-chief, Mrs Clinton travelled in a bubble, surrounded by her staff and diplomatic security officers, and only met ordinary citizens in highly controlled settings, on university campuses or round tables organised by US embassies. There was one pub crawl in Dublin that probably gave her security detail cold sweats. |
| "You're more exposed on the campaign trail, because the whole point is to meet people and dive into the crowd in Iowa," or wherever else she goes, said Nick Merrill, her travelling press secretary, who was also part of her team at the State Department. | "You're more exposed on the campaign trail, because the whole point is to meet people and dive into the crowd in Iowa," or wherever else she goes, said Nick Merrill, her travelling press secretary, who was also part of her team at the State Department. |
| As a diplomat, Mrs Clinton had to juggle between dossiers of various countries, discussing Pakistan's relationship with Afghanistan in the morning and raising concerns about settlement with the Israeli prime minister in the evening. We once visited four countries in one day, flying west back in time, across time zones, from Kazakhstan to Bahrain. | As a diplomat, Mrs Clinton had to juggle between dossiers of various countries, discussing Pakistan's relationship with Afghanistan in the morning and raising concerns about settlement with the Israeli prime minister in the evening. We once visited four countries in one day, flying west back in time, across time zones, from Kazakhstan to Bahrain. |
| "Now it's a campaign, and repetition is really important, many of the same issues come back at each stop," said Mr Merrill. | "Now it's a campaign, and repetition is really important, many of the same issues come back at each stop," said Mr Merrill. |
| Hillary Clinton | Hillary Clinton |
| Profile: Hillary Clinton | Profile: Hillary Clinton |
| Clinton eases doubts with strong debate | Clinton eases doubts with strong debate |
| 'Different platform' | 'Different platform' |
| The challenge for Mrs Clinton, who is still more public servant than politician, is to rouse the crowds with that repetitive message, a very different skill than delivering serious statements with a poised demeanour standing next to presidents and prime ministers in Tokyo or Tunis. | The challenge for Mrs Clinton, who is still more public servant than politician, is to rouse the crowds with that repetitive message, a very different skill than delivering serious statements with a poised demeanour standing next to presidents and prime ministers in Tokyo or Tunis. |
| She appears to be finally hitting her stride, after a difficult summer where she's been dogged by controversy about her use of a private email server during her time in government, screaming headlines about her perceived untrustworthiness and stories about possible conflicts of interest with donations to the Clinton Foundation. | She appears to be finally hitting her stride, after a difficult summer where she's been dogged by controversy about her use of a private email server during her time in government, screaming headlines about her perceived untrustworthiness and stories about possible conflicts of interest with donations to the Clinton Foundation. |
| In a recent podcast interview in the US, she spoke about how hard it is to be on the campaign trail and hinted she missed her days at the State Department if only because the coverage was usually focused on the policies she was executing on behalf of the administration, not on her personally. | In a recent podcast interview in the US, she spoke about how hard it is to be on the campaign trail and hinted she missed her days at the State Department if only because the coverage was usually focused on the policies she was executing on behalf of the administration, not on her personally. |
| "When President Obama asked me to be secretary of state, it was a different kind of platform and because I wasn't in politics, people were really nice about me, they said all kinds of nice things, which I appreciated," she said with a laugh. | "When President Obama asked me to be secretary of state, it was a different kind of platform and because I wasn't in politics, people were really nice about me, they said all kinds of nice things, which I appreciated," she said with a laugh. |
| For all the headlines about how many miles she travelled around the world as secretary of state, she was on the road only around 27% of the time, according to Mr Merrill. | For all the headlines about how many miles she travelled around the world as secretary of state, she was on the road only around 27% of the time, according to Mr Merrill. |
| A quick glance at her recent travel schedule indicates she's already on the road at least 50% of the time, more than a year before election day. But at the end of this gruelling marathon, Mrs Clinton of course hopes she will reach the ultimate prize. | A quick glance at her recent travel schedule indicates she's already on the road at least 50% of the time, more than a year before election day. But at the end of this gruelling marathon, Mrs Clinton of course hopes she will reach the ultimate prize. |
| As for me, I am looking forward to the opportunity to finally explore the incredible diversity and vastness of a country I moved to seven years ago. | As for me, I am looking forward to the opportunity to finally explore the incredible diversity and vastness of a country I moved to seven years ago. |
| And if you've been wondering - no, I didn't join gamblers at the poker table in Vegas. | And if you've been wondering - no, I didn't join gamblers at the poker table in Vegas. |