0
Shares
Pinterest Google+

Meet David Drucker. He’s currently Senior Congressional Correspondent at the Washington Examiner. He tackles serious issues and is a major source for up to the minute information in this town. We caught up with him briefly to talk more about his work, how he got started and where he hangs out.

1. How did you make the leap from California to DC?

I probably owe my first gig in Washington to Arnold Schwarzenegger; or maybe Gray Davis; or possibly the electricity crisis that gripped my home state in the early 2000s. I suppose that’s about right. Without the electricity crisis, nobody sours on Davis’ leadership; and without that, there’s no 2003 recall; and without that, there’s no Gov. Schwarzenegger. And finally, without that, I might not have captured the attention of DC editors. When I started traveling to DC for meetings for potential jobs in late 2003, I doubt anyone was that interested in me, but I was covering Schwarzenegger in Sacramento and they were all interested in him, so they’d lose track of time shooting the bull with me for an hour or so and then tell me to come back. That eventually led to a gig with Roll Call for which I will always be eternally grateful. … On second thought, maybe I owe my Roll Call gig to Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.). He bankrolled the signature drive that put the recall on the ballot in the first place. Hmmm…

2. What stories do you enjoy reporting on most?

I like to connect dots. Why is a bill going to pass or fail? What issues and why are they driving (or not driving) voters in Iowa or New Hampshire or Kansas? You just have to connect the dots linking the voters, the politics, the policies, the players and their relationships. The answers are usually hiding in plain sight. You just have to ask the right questions of the right people.

3. What is the most DC (#thistown) thing happens to you on the job?

Put it this way: Until I moved to D.C., whenever I met someone for the first time I’d say: “Nice to meet you.” But you become trained if you work in politics in D.C. to say “Nice to see you.”

4. What deserving topic needs more attention?

Doesn’t every topic have a lobby in D.C.?

5. When you’re not around the Hill, what are you up to?

Hopefully I’m at a bar with my wife drinking really good cocktails. But lately where I probably am is at a playground with our son or letting him run around Union Market while we drink beer. Union Market is a great way for parents to combine a child’s need to run around with an adult’s need to drink beer, as it happens…