Getting a late start here... She's recounting how she and her husband, Sherrod Brown, decided he would run for the U.S. Senate, putting her, as a journalist, in an awkward position.
"All i could think about is I'm giong to be the big fat moon ahead of your star. ... I did not feel pressured to have Sherrod run and I did not feel pressured to leave the Cleveland Plain Dealer when I did."
The decision to take a leave of absence was made easier by a book deal. But she wrote in her journal, "What will become of me?"
About the title of her book "And his lovely wife..." - came from the campaign trail. Many older men suggested she should have changed her last name, including one who mentioned it in introducing Sherrod Brown's lovely wife... That led her to tell the story of her recently deceased father, a blue-collar worker determined to give his children a better life. His last name was Schultz too.
"My parents were two nobodies but they raised two somebodies."
A line that inspired her: "What they call you is one thing, what you answer to is something else."
On political coverage: "I've learned some things from being on the receiving end of it."
So many large newspapers are quoting from staff-generated quotes and saying it came from the Congress member.
"Then I found out all these op-ed pieces are staff generated and have their name on them."
In one instance, someone else wrote a book review under a congressman's name for the WSJ. It misleads the readers not to ask who actually said/wrote these things.
"I looked up his voting record on gay rights and choice before I said yes to a first date."
"Overall I was pretty proud of the coverage during our Senate race" especially from larger media.
"I always knew I was going to return to my job."
One reason she's partial to Hillary Clinton is that she called to congratulate Brown on his election and asked him to tell Connie that she should return to her career. Her return was announced with a news story and it's always clear who she's married to.
"I couldn't be more transparent if I were Saran Wrap."
Recalls Leonard Pitts asking her how she could go back. She said she didn't really write the column - woke up, got an idea, asked her husband to write if for her, lots of time to go shopping. Ha ha.
Her response to some readers who complain about her link to a U.S. Senator
"Marriage does not suck the brains out of a woman and make her incapable of an independent thought."
What about Sarah Palin? She wrote a column last week.
"I am so disgusted by this notion that any skirt will do."
Also disappointed that it puts a pregnant 17-year-old in the limelight.
"If this had been a Democratic candidate leaving an infant at home... When you have an infant with Down syndrome and a pregnant teenager ... it does call into question your judgment, your values."
"I think it's a dishonest and disingenuous ploy by the McCain camp... We all have these moments when it's a chance of a lifetime" but family has to come first. She was a single mother who gave up opportunities out of consideration for her daughter.
On the evolving blog dynamic: "Bloggers are not doing it. Bloggers rely on us. They want all the access and none of the responsibility of the media."
She thinks the American public is beginning to understand why real journalists matter. But "newspapers have never been good at promoting themselves... How do we change that?"
"I don't trust polls right now, because most Americans aren't paying much attention right now."
What we've got to be responsible about: "Race is the issue in this campaign. And I say this coming from the Heartland." People in the working class love their family who are racist, so they avoid having the conversation with them. "Do you want anybody to win on the basis of race?"
It's not an issue with younger folks, but it is with the older generation. It's also an economic issue. Hillary Clinton voters: more of an identification with her, not necessarily on the issues.
"I'm embarrassed that race is an issue." Ignoring it only makes it worse. And the Obama campaign doesn't want the media to talk about it. But she says it's important to go out and talk with people in the community and tell the stories, force the conversation so many don't want to have.
"Aren't we the ones to challenge them and shake them up? Think about what you're saying right here."
Even the stories exposing those who are racist. "It's not hard to get them to say these things." National media are calling her up to ask where they should go and she makes suggestions. "I want the heat on. I don't have to be unbiased when it comes to racism."
"We got in this business not to make the money, we wanted to change the world. We've got to own why we got into it."
Asked about future elections as the country becomes more multi-ethnic.
"The undercurrent all along is fear. Race is about fear."
If you graduated after 1971, chances of going to an integrated high school is far greater. Eventually, the older generation that has that fear will be gone.
"My parting note... The very thought of more than 100 women committed to truth, which is what we do still, to storytelling ... was enough to get me here. Just in this discussion about politics, do you see how important it is that you exist, that you weigh in?"
Tells story of a friend watching a newsroom meeting, wondering why she hadn't been invited. Said she wasn't asking the right question.
"If we waited for the invitation, we still wouldn't have the right to vote."
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