How to get Americans to talk to you about their politics

For a very long time, my favourite thing about being a reporter has been going out and talking to people.

Some can get their fix pounding the phones for scoops. Others love the adrenaline rush that goes with live-blogging a press conference or congressional hearing, publishing the “breaking news” only seconds after a person’s words have been said.

Since my first job at the Hull Daily Mail in northeast England, nothing has given me a greater buzz than going and speaking to people in the street, in their homes, or at a political rally.

From a crime scene to a natural disaster, nothing beats being there and seeing what people are experiencing, to better understand them and their situation.

This is never more true when you’re writing about politics. You can see what people are writing on Twitter or saying on TikTok, but do these in any way reflect the thoughts of most people on the ground? Probably not.

In these contentious times, when politics and political discourse often feel hot and angry, it is more important than ever for reporters to speak to people directly, and hear what they have to say.

All of which is a long, drawn-out explanation for why I found myself in the towns of Moses Lake and Yakima, 150 miles east of Seattle, earlier this month as the temperature was soaring.

The area, which is mainly agricultural, along with a large chunk of high desert, is where rival candidates were battling it out in a primary race for Washington’s fourth congressional district. The race had generated national interest because incumbent Dan Newhouse was one of 10 Republicans who had voted for Donald Trump’s impeachment, and Trump had endorsed a former police officer, Loren Culp, to take him on. There was also a Democrat, Doug White, who hoped to flip the seat blue for the first time since 1992. It’s a rather conservative area, to say the least.

I’d interviewed White and spoken with Culp on the phone. Newhouse, who would and has progressed to the general election in November, did not respond to multiple requests. But I wanted to speak to potential voters. The only trouble was that the day I planned to travel to the area coincided with a brutal heatwave, when temperatures were set to hit 113F (45C.)

I left home as early as possible, a trick learned from the seven years when I worked in India. By the time I reached Moses Lake at 9.30am, it was 95F (35C) and few people were in the mood to linger in the street and talk.

“I need to sit and think this through,” said business owner Sue Torrance, as she opened the door to her clothes and gift shop. She had voted for Newhouse in 2020, and usually votes Republican. She liked the idea of change, but added that she thought what Trump did during the January 6 insurrection on the Capitol was wrong.

It helps when you explain to people that as a British citizen, you literally do not have a vote and that you’re simply there to write down what they say.

People often say you’re going to twist their words, but I point out I would not have driven all that way if I did not want to hear from them straight.

Debbie Osborne told me she was voting for Culp, who lives in Moses Lake. “We need new blood. It is time for change,” she said.

Another thing that makes it easier to persuade people to speak to you is to not get your phone out. If you just have a notebook and your press card, it can feel less threatening, less intrusive.

If people then agree to speak on video, that is brilliant, but take the time to put them at ease first. This is the first time they’ve ever seen you. They don’t know who you are.

By noon, it was getting too hot to stand on the streets so I headed to Yakima, which is the base of White and Newhouse. When I pulled up into the parking lot at Walmart – grocery stores are a good place to meet a diversity of people in an area – the car told me the temperature outside was 113F, or 45C.

There was a young man getting into his car who initially said he did not want to speak. But I need to speak to young people. Young voters are the future, I told him. He gave me his initials, and said he was voting Democrat up and down the ticket.

A short way away, a woman said she was voting for Culp because Newhouse had backed Trump’s impeachment. What did she think of the January 6 hearings? They were a sham, like the impeachment. My notebook almost had enough quotes. My brain was starting to hurt. Drinking water did nothing to shake off a building headache.

A man called Elvis Tangi-Arrey had just done his shopping. He was kind enough to give me a couple of minutes of his time to explain why he was voting for White. “I am voting Democrat. They will work to help people,” he said. “I was born outside the US and people look to the US for leadership. We need to protect democracy, not just for the US but for other countries.”

Then it was time to hop back in the car, turn the A/C to full and drive back to Seattle. It was a long day but lots and lots of fun. Indeed, I am looking to go back for a follow-up in the not-too-distant future.

Yours,

Andrew Buncombe

Chief US correspondent