NEAL CONAN, host:
There are just a few more days for those of us who live and work here in Washington, D.C. to get seats on the subway in the morning, speed along normally choked highways, and watch tumbleweed roll down the steps of the Capitol.
Congress is not in session. The Supreme Court doesn't convene for another month. Government officials and bureaucrats and policy wonks and think-tankers and lobbyists and more than a few of the reporters who chronicle all those activities are all gone - somewhere.
So with apologies to a two-dimensional character in a striped hat, where's Washington? Joining us to address this critical issue is Ana Marie Cox, the Washington editor of Time.com, and she's with us today by phone from her office. Nice to talk to you again.
Ms. ANA MARIE COX (Washington Editor, Time.com): Nice to see you, or talk to you.
CONAN: What are you doing in town?
Ms. COX: Well, you see the thing is I think if you choose to stay in Washington in August, it's almost like having a second vacation because no one actually expects you to get any work done. I mean here I am at work talking to you about what it's like to be on vacation.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Ms. COX: And there is something kind of relaxing about it being so empty, you know, not having to - you know, being able to get a reservation at a restaurant and being able to find a seat on the subway.
CONAN: Nevertheless, this is a curious old town when that sort of crust of officialdom moves away.
Ms. COX: Yeah. I mean I think it's an old-fashioned town. You start to realize just kind of how traditional Washington is in August because so much disappears. I remember I was meeting a friend for lunch last week, and we were planning on meeting at the restaurant at The Willard Hotel and the restaurant had closed for August.
CONAN: Closed for August?
Ms. COX: Closed for August.
CONAN: Is this a good thing, or is it just boring?
Ms. COX: Well, I mean it depends on your outlook. I mean, it can be boring. When I had a blog and I had to write 10 times a day, I hated August. There was so little to write about. Now that I don't have the same sort of, you know, quantity to write, I don't mind it as much. And, hey, you know, the Rock Creek Expressway is totally empty in the morning. It takes me 10 minutes to get to work.
CONAN: Yeah, the difference being in radio, our news hole doesn't shrink when the summer comes.
Ms. COX: Well, that happens at the magazine, too; that's true. But thank God for tabloid scandals, and I don't have to cover those. But it's also true that in Washington in August everyone does kind of relax their news judgment I think just a little bit. And it's true that when I was looking around about what are people talking about right now in Washington since no one's here, it's true that John Mark Karr was number one. Him, you know, Mel Gibson, Tom Cruise. People sort of get to indulge in I think their sort of normal-person news obsessions in August.
CONAN: Well, to paraphrase the senator from the state of Virginia, welcome to America.
(Soundbite of laughter)
CONAN: So where does everybody go?
Ms. COX: Well, literally people tend to go - before I moved to Washington, I never realized that Delaware was a vacation state. But apparently a lot of people go there.
CONAN: You know, there's a sign in Rehoboth, Delaware: the nation's summer capital.
Ms. COX: That's true. It's true that a lot of reporters and politicians make their way to Delaware, and which sort of explains Delaware's existence to me: credit card companies and Washington's vacationland.
CONAN: And how can you dislike a state whose motto is always tax-free shopping?
(Soundbite of laughter)
Ms. COX: That's right. Speaking of tax-free shopping, I believe that's also true - I mean, I'm not sure it's tax free, but I know New Hampshire and Maine are also big destination spots for a lot of the people that I know in Washington.
CONAN: We're talking about where is Washington? with Ana Marie Cox, the Washington editor of Time.com, and you're listening to TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News.
In non-election years, members of Congress often spend the last two weeks of August on fact-finding missions to Tuscany, Martha's Vineyard, or Maui. As this is an even-numbered year, just about every member of the House of Representatives and a third of the U.S. Senate are back home campaigning. Joining us now is Congressman Lee Terry, who represents Nebraska's Second Congressional District. He's at his office in Omaha. And it's good of you to be with us today.
Representative LEE TERRY (Republican, Nebraska): Hey, thank you.
CONAN: The House went out of session on July 31st. What have you been doing this whole past month?
Rep. TERRY: Well, it's been all back home. One of the nice things is I have not been to Washington, D.C. since then. Like Ana Marie was saying, you know, we get out of town, too. And I've done a lot of constituent work, company walkthroughs. We've attended so many fairs and festivals and parades that my kids wake up in the morning and say, Dad, do we have to go to another parade?
So - but I've got three little boys, so I set time aside. This is also our time not only to be with our constituents but with our families, too. So I get home in a week. Probably four nights a week I can be home by six or seven and spend time with my kids, help them get ready for bed and, you know, maybe play a little NCAA ‘07 on the Xbox with my kids.
CONAN: Well, what about your staffers: the legislative aides, the interns. Are some of them out with you, or are they scattered to the winds?
Rep. TERRY: The Washington, D.C. staff, my (unintelligible) staff, they have to come back to Omaha for at least one of the weeks and meet with the companies and the constituents under their jurisdiction. But otherwise that's their time to relax out there too, before we get back in session in September and kick things up. And so the busy time for my Omaha or district staff is now.
CONAN: And I wonder. Is it easy to get reservations at the equivalent of The Willard in Omaha in August?
(Soundbite of laughter)
Rep. TERRY: Yes. We don't have that same type of dynamic that everybody gets out of town in August here. Today's perfect. It's Maui-like weather, so why would I want to leave? It's 80, it's sunny; we just don't have the ocean breeze is all.
CONAN: Ana Marie Cox, getting out of town is a different question for lower-level staffers than it is for the big shots.
Ms. COX: That's true, it is. In fact, actually one of the traditions of the Washington summer is the number of stories that appear in the Post about interns' social lives, because they're pretty much the only people there left to write about in the summer. And recently there was actually a somewhat embarrassing story, I think, in The Washington Post about a poor guy who had a schedule of happy hours on his Trio, and that's what he did during the summer.
(Soundbite of laughter)
CONAN: Went from one happy hour to another.
Ms. COX: One happy hour to another. I mean I understand the temptation, and it's true that - I mean I should mention that the novel I wrote takes place in August in D.C. And there is a very particular quality to the sort of attitude that emerges or the outlook for the people who wound up staying in Washington, especially the younger people. The catchphrase that I've used is in a town that's always a lot like high school, it turns out to be a little bit more like summer camp.
CONAN: Well, as one of the smart kids in the high school, Congressman, is that the impression you get?
Rep. TERRY: Oh absolutely. You know, the staff, they do a variety of different things.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Rep. TERRY: But most of them - I would have to say that those that weren't spending their time back in the district here in Nebraska were finding things like go to Delaware, the happy hours. Actually, my staff calls it networking.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Ms. COX: That's how you get to put it on your expense account, if you call it networking.
Rep. TERRY: Ah.
Ms. COX: I learned that trick, too.
CONAN: So, Congressman Terry, how do you plan to spend the last weekend of the summer? Are you dragging those kids out to another boring parade?
Rep. TERRY: No more parades this week, but there is a fair.
Ms. COX: There's always a fair.
Rep. TERRY: We've had a lot of events, so I'm going to spend a little bit of downtime with the kids. I'm going to go to the Husker game - go Big Red - on Saturday.
CONAN: And if they don't like the corn dogs, too bad.
Rep. TERRY: Darn straight.
CONAN: And you're due back in Washington when?
Rep. TERRY: Wednesday morning.
CONAN: Wednesday morning. We will look forward to your return and the return of the traffic that accompanies you.
Ana Marie Cox, beach, mountains, your yacht? Where are you going this weekend?
Ms. COX: I think I'm going to try to take advantage of those empty restaurants, my husband and I are, while we can still get tables.
CONAN: And this is a very small window, so take advantage of it as long as you can.
Ms. COX: All right, thank you.
CONAN: Ana Marie Cox is the Washington editor of Time.com, and she joined us today from her office here in Washington. And, Congressman Terry, we'll look forward to seeing you when you get back to town.
Rep. TERRY: I appreciate that.
CONAN: Lee Terry joined us from his office in Omaha, Nebraska. And a lot of people say voters don't pay any attention until after Labor Day. Ha! That's what he's doing back at all those parades.
This is TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News. Ira Flatow will be here tomorrow. I'm Neal Conan in Washington.
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