Learning from the master

by: Eric B.

Sun Nov 22, 2009 at 10:10:02 AM EST

This two paragraphs reminded me of something that happened when I was in college:

Schuette, 56, is early leading contender to be next year's Republican nominee to replace term-limited AG Mike Cox, a top tier contender for the Republican gubernatorial nomination.

During the recent 20th anniversary of fall of the Berlin Wall, I was reminded of what makes the ebullient Schuette such an interesting seize-the-moment figure. On the day that word came that the wall was beginning to fall, then-Congressman Schuette, told his staff to figure a way to get him there immediately. They did, and within 24 hours, he was at the wall as it collapsed.

I think most everyone is at least vaguely aware of the long-standing personal and professional ties between Dave Camp and Bill Schuette. In fact, I tell people that Dave Camp's bland, pat answers that allow him to softly change the subject without anyone knowing it'd been done was a trick he borrowed from Schuette, perfected it, and that today he has it honed to such a craft it ought to be taught at the Academy, as it were. (He's also learned well the free publicity value of periodically showing up in-district, box of military medals in his hand, and graciously allowing himself to be photographed by the local media pinning said medals on the chests of elderly veterans.)

Somehow while in college and working at CMU's student newspaper, I found myself on the Dave Camp beat. That is, when his regular dispatches came spitting out of the fax machine, my name would be at the top of them. Mostly, they were Dave championing some new adoption program (in addition to presenting medals to old people, Dave never wavered from his firm, principled stance that qualified people should not be prevented from adopting babies whose parents didn't want to raise them), but occasionally they announced that he planned to visit campus. These visits usually took the form of presenting students with either scholarships or internships (I later found out that they didn't always invite all of the students who won the awards, and shockingly that these visits were mostly publicity stunts).

After one of these visits, I was back in the office writing up the story when one of the paper's photographers came back from a school spirit assignment (this was back in the day when CMU celebrated football victories by rioting and burning cars). The photographer visited some of the local college apparel shops around the city and photographed people buying clothing and other school spirit items like coffee mugs and pennants. While going through the negatives, the photographer (I don't remember if he was a she or if she was a he) started talking about being in one of the stores when some guy dressed in a suit up and started to help model some of the clothing. Smiling, he held up T-shirts and sweatshirts for the camera. And, yes, a quick glance of the film negatives informed us that the identity of that impromptu model was Dave Camp, who was happy to offer his assistance when he found out that the photos would be included in a front page story.