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"FacebookPinterest\n\nThis is the first ever GQ reporter roundtable: a conversation conducted (literally) around a kitchen table in Washington with four young reporters covering the 2012 presidential race. Chris Moody of Yahoo! News, Molly Ball of the Atlantic and Dave Weigel of Slate join GQ correspondent Marin Cogan to talk about the GOP primary. Listen to the podcast to find out how they dealt with primary voters who insisted on conforming to stereotypes; a dead prostitute joke that should probably get somebody fired; which reporter paid the most in speeding tickets; and how Twitter's confessional imperatives are bringing readers a lot closer to the real experience of being on the trail.\n\nListen to the Reporter Round Table\n\nHighlights of the conversation follow after the jump.\n\nYahoo!'s Chris Moody on what he'll miss about the Republican primary: \"It's not just Santorum, it's all of the candidates. If you think back to 2011 with Herman Cain, how silly was that? My favorite campaign story was in Orlando Florida when he spoke at what is called the Holy Land Experience which is a theme park for evangelical Christians where they have crucifixions twice a day. They reenact it and Jesus comes back after he's crucified and Satan is lassoed with a golden chain around his neck and carted off to wherever they take him, and then Herman Cain spoke after that. Mitt Romney doesn't do things like that and it's going to be\u2014frankly it's going to be boring.\"\n\nGQ's Marin Cogan on what little reporting gets done on the trail:  \"That was surprising to me, was how little actual reporting you get done on the trail. You're so busy but if often feels like you're just going to the same event, having the same conversations with the same people. In some ways I'm sort of relieved that it's over because it offers some time to sit down, pick up your phone and dig a bit deeper on something than you otherwise would have.\"\n\nThe Atlantic's Molly Ball on her favorite story so far: \"I would have to say the most indelible experience I had this season was meeting Ohio senate candidate Josh Mandel at a Steak 'n Shake outside of Columbus, Ohio after midnight. When I had put in a request to interview him his campaign was like 'Oh, he loves the Atlantic, I'm sure he'll be really excited about this.' And they're like, 'So he's coming back from a campaign event really late, what would you think about meeting him kind of late?' And the time got progressively pushed back and it's getting to the point where even though I knew I had to get up early in the morning there was no way I could turn down an interview ith a politician at 1 in the morning. ... And he ordered cottage cheese. So he looks like he's 12 and has a lot of very odd mannerisms. And despite what his press person said he's like, \"the Atlantic, what's that?\" And he wasn't really up on a lot of things, and he the entire interview was him giving me weird looks and sort of scratching his head and acting like an overgrown frat boy as he recited these talking points over and over that were all that he had. It was very revealing and interesting and strange.\"\n\nSlate's Dave Weigel on how oversharing on Twitter has made campaign coverage more intimate: \"There were things that wouldn't have been shared otherwise that were just these little asides about ways events were being staged, because clearly some of the reporters had time to notice and they would take a photo of it. You saw the campaign with less of a filter than you ever have. The way that used to be was you'd see it a week later in the David Foster Wallace version of the story, whereas now if you follow these Twitter accounts a bunch of people told you how empty the room was, or who the guy yelling the thing in the background was, little things like that, which, you can argue how much each one matters, but they're all out there and I think that's better.\"\n\nPlus: Which reporter paid the most in traffic tickets\n\n Marin Cogan: \"I haven't\u2014I really shouldn't admit this, but I got one in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and I sort of just forgot to pay it, so I'm hoping that the rental company took care of it and Conde Nast isn't about to be billed for it.\"\n\nChris Moody: \"How much was it?\"\n\nMarin Cogan: \"I think it was $50.\"\n\nChris Moody: \"Oh that's not bad.\"\n\nMarin Cogan: \"No, it's good. I'm a very responsible driver.\"\n\nChris Moody: \"Weigel?\"\n\nDave Weigel: \"In the run up to Iowa and since then probably only like $180 because I missed this one notorious speed trap in South Carolina. I simply just got better at putting on cruise control 'cause there's so damn much of it. I got hit a couple of times in Iowa and once in South Carolina, which is weird. In 2011 there was one monster one that was like $280 in Florida. Never again.\"\n\nChris Moody: \"I got pulled over three times. Twice they let me off with a warning and told me to report good things about Republicans. One was in Iowa, the other was in Ohio or Illinois. The third time I got pulled over was in Wisconsin. He had just pulled over an embed directly in front of me and we were going exactly same speed, 78 miles per hour, and he gave us both $200 tickets. 78 in a 65. And didn't care that we were trying to get somewhere. Rick Santorum scheduled events that were like 45 minutes drive apart but the event was like 30 minutes later, making it impossible. With Secret Service he can drive as fast as he wants. So it ran me back about 200 bucks and I still have to pay it. There was a reporter who got a gnarly ticket in Illinois, forgot what county it was in, lost it, and I think he has a warrant out for his arrest or something. Molly?\"\n\nMolly Ball: \"Oh God. You have set this whole thing up just so that I'd have to admit, here on tape, with possibly my mother or some other authority figure listening, that I did in fact break the law. I'm a terrible speeder. And I have spent my whole life talking my way out of speeding tickets, and I have been up until now pretty good at it, leading to perhaps a bit of overconfidence. And the Iowa highway patrol cunningly capitalized on this, got me twice. Both times I think 15 over the limit and it ended up being 300 dollars in total and 8 points off of my Virginia license.\"\n\nDave Weigel: \"I've never gotten license points.\"\n\nMolly Ball: \"Yeah they've got reciprocity and I get this letter from the DMV saying that they have been notified by the state of Iowa...\"\n\nDave Weigel: \"Did you tell them it was in the service of democracy?\"\n\nRead more on Death Race 2012\n\nThe Secret Service Has Had Worse Weeks, And Other Facts Getting Lost in the Scandal\n\nI Spent the Day at Herman Cain's Tax Rally and All I Got Was This Lousy Sunburn\n\nDark Horses and White Knights: An American Fairy Tale\n\n\n\nDon't Blame Hogan Gidley for Rick Santorum's Sweater Vest: An Exit Interview with Rick Santorum's Peacock Message Man\n\nFollow @GQPolitics on Twitter for more updates on the campaign trail"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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