ABSTRACT
At the time of the Moakley funeral, I had spent 31 years writing tostrangers, telephoning friends, negotiating with airlines, and renting automobiles, all for the purpose of insinuating myself into the daily lives of some American politicians. Thirty of them were members of the U.S. House of Representatives, and 16 of them were members of the U.S. Senate. As best as I can count, between 1970 and 2002, I made 70 separate trips to spend time with House members and 57 trips to visit with senators. These 127 trips took me to 27 states, from New York to California, Florida to Washington, New Mexico to Maine, and Minnesota to Texas. Any person who spends that much time away from home in that many places ought to have something to say for himself! Now that I have stopped doing all that, it seems natural to ask myself: What, if anything, did it all add up to?
