But what you don't get to witness is the work that's happening behind the scenes. For every flawless live shot from Iowa, there's a producer hanging out of a barn window in a desperate attempt to get a WiFi signal mere moments before going on air.
And that calm voiceover heard during the primetime news? That's all thanks to the thick winter coat doubling as a makeshift recording studio in the middle of the world's busiest airport -- because story deadlines wait for no reporter's flight schedule.
Those are just two of the memories CNN political correspondents have collected from their time on the road covering this year's wildly unpredictable presidential campaign. While no one expected this election season to be a smooth ride, there was no way to predict just how intense it would become: From the chaotic caucus results out of Iowa to the devastating spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
To capture the unprecedented nature of this moment, we turned to a group of female CNN journalists who've pulled back the curtain on their lives in the CNN Films documentary "On the Trail: Inside the 2020 Primaries."
Below, 10 of these political correspondents and embeds share the personal photos that they think best capture what it's been like to document history in the making.
I was a moderator at CNN's first debate of the 2020 election cycle and at the last one this spring. There is nothing quite like the rush and responsibility of being part of a debate at that level. The prep for the event is almost as much fun as actually doing it. We get to sit in a room with CNN's whip smart team and think about the most important questions for candidates competing for the highest office in the land. What do we ask? How do we ask it? How do we elicit the best discussion about the candidates' differing ideas so that voters can make the most informed decisions possible? The stakes are high and the privilege of participating in these debates is something I will never take for granted.
Kaitlan Collins
Campaign reporters went into 2020 bracing themselves for a year on the road, living out of hotels on fast food diets as we followed our candidate around the country. But just as we got into the height of the election cycle, we were forced to confront the new reality that is covering a presidential race during a pandemic -- masks and all.
From my perch at the White House, this has been an extraordinary change. While I used to make several international trips a year, and several domestic ones per week, all travel has been brought to a halt while the demands of the job have only soared.
What's been fascinating is seeing not only how different this undertaking is for us as reporters, but also for the President. I've had several White House officials vent to me that their boss is going stir crazy because he doesn't have the outlet of the rallies that invigorated him for the last four years.
Above is a shot from one of our last trips on Air Force One for a rally -- pre-Covid-19 -- and post-Covi
