Some people read a book during a long commute; others listen to music. Freshman Sen. Chris Coons takes a different approach, using his travel time to communicate with constituents.
The Delaware Democrat rolled out a new Web series last week called “Correspondence From the Commute.” The monthly series is recorded during Coons’ near-daily three-hour commute from his home in Delaware to his Senate office.
“Responding to questions individually on-camera is something we tried during the campaign with great success,” Coons says in a release. “We found it allowed us to better engage with Delawareans and we decided to continue the practice here in the Senate.”
The first series of videos addressed heavy topics such as job creation, the “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal and the debt ceiling, and they were shot using the camera on the back of a laptop.
“I apologize for the low quality of this broadcast,” Coons says in his debut video. “But it’s the best we can do from a moving train.”
According to Communications Director Ian Koski, Coons came up with the name for the Web series himself.
“The name itself actually came about while we were standing on the platform together at the train station in Wilmington,” Koski explains.
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