By Stephen Smoot
It is almost never appropriate for a journalist (outside of columnists) to write in the first person. You are not the story, aspiring reporters learn early on. Only when your perspective provides actual and important insight about the subject would writing in first person as a journalist be proper.
This was usually the first lesson I taught to each class of student interns in the three years I directed academic programs for National Journalism Center in Washington DC – a job I was hired to do by their then executive director, the current Representative Alex Mooney.
The first day I came to work at NJC in September of 2011 I noticed that this major non-profit, managed by the resource rich Young America’s Foundation, had used plastic dollar store lawn chairs for the use of the student interns. The program director, Hannah Jackman, saw my puzzlement and explained that “Alex is very frugal,” adding that he wanted donors to see that they used their money wisely.
I worked for Alex Mooney for less than a year at NJC before he moved to West Virginia, mainly out of worry that his children would learn the wrong values growing up in Maryland. I told him that they’d love the state and that a lot of people are West Virginians all of their lives, they just don’t realize it until they get there.
One could say the same of Stephen Elkins, Ken Hechler, Jay Rockefeller, Patrick Morrisey, and others who fell in love with their adopted state and all, including Mooney, quickly becoming the Mountain State’s fiercest champions.
Mooney has never been a typical congressman. For most of his tenure in office, he drove a 1996 Saturn, painted in probably the worst shade of brown ever applied to a car. By the time I knew him, the ceiling cloth was hanging down on his head and the power steering had long since died.
US Capitol Police developed a strong affection for the brown beater, which definitely stood out in a sea of black luxury SUVs. One unfortunate intern sent to retrieve something from the vehicle discovered their dedication to it. When he opened the door, several officers converged on him to demand why he was getting into Congressman Mooney’s car.
The congressman was much more comfortable talking to everyday people than the powerful elites. Once in Hampshire County, just prior to an event put on for him by Delegate Ruth Rowan, he wanted to stop to try the water at an oft used roadside spring on US 50. His car pulled in behind an old van already parked there. The owner of the van came back to ask how many gallons of water the three men in suits and ties would need. The congressman grabbed a cup and said that he just wanted to try the water,
Both men returned to the spring. Mooney stood by it for several minutes conversing with the gentleman, sipping the water, one foot on the shoulder, the other on the hillside. When he returned, carrying a book, he exclaimed “this has been the best day. I am drinking the best water, I got to talk to a great constituent, and he even gave me a Jesus book.”
You never got to hear the stories of this side of Alex Mooney because he has never seen himself as a brand. He never created a public persona, never undertook the dramatic to get attention, and focused on his values and the work to advance them. Mooney also never embarrassed himself, his office, his state, his political party, or the chamber in which he sat by saying or doing something ill-conceived.
Mooney always had to work to find a balance. He came into office with powerful values which originated in his Roman Catholic faith and his devotion to the cause of Constitutional based liberty, which itself came from his family’s experiences being abused by Fidel Castro’s Cuban government. Yet he never forgot his district and its needs
In 2015, House leaders included a clause to retain the Export-Import Bank within the Highway Bill. Mooney has almost a moral disgust for that institution and its potential to pick winners and losers among free market businesses. He also, however, understood that the bill was essential to further construction of Corridor H. After days of thought, he voted as his district desired – for the Highway Bill.
This was the man who lost the race for United States Senate last week, someone who kept his head down, worked hard, and represented his district as it desired.
As an editor, I could not share these details prior to the election in this publication. While I certainly favored my former boss personally, a newspaper’s job lies in remaining objective and reporting the news, not trying to shape it.