This is a very nice piece on one way that Washington works -- through the way charts have taken root in our political culture. The author is an old Washington hand who has been a good friend to NPF for many years. Full text is available after the jump.
WASHINGTON: When I was just starting out, in the mid-1970's, I got a freelance assignment from the Los Angeles Times' Sunday sup, called West,to do a profile of a now-legendary California campaign manager named Joseph R. Cerrell. The idea of the story was that I would follow Cerrell around as he worked with various candidates. That led me to Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey, and that led me to columnist Bob Novak, who died this week. It was from Novak that I learned one of the best lessons a young reporter could ever learn.
D. Gorton filed this story: Bo Diddley died last week.We knew him in the Delta where he played for some famous parties. In particular, I remember an especially raucous dance in Greenwood, Mississippi. There were a number of highlights which included a guy named Jake, an Ole Miss quarterback, knocking out Peter with one clean punch.
