Trackers are the folks hired by political campaigns to try to follow opponents around and video tape their public appearances in the hopes of capturing a “Macaca” moment.
Matt Longobardi, 22, has since August been the tracker employed by the Connecticut Democratic Party to tail Republican U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon.
With the race over as of Blumenthal’s victory tonight, I pulled Longobardi, who was in Hartford celebrating, for a chat about his job.
“I’m definitely relieved,” Longobardi, a Glastonbury resident, said of the campaign’s end. “It completely got sprung on me. I didn’t even know what a tracker was.”
He said it was a good experience but added, “I definitely wouldn’t do it again.”
Longobardi is a registered Democrat but does not consider himself to be a political person. He was an art and photography major in college and hopes to pursue a career using those skills.
McMahon also employed a tracker, and her staff and Blumenthal’s staff would do their best to foil their recording efforts along the trail.
Although a Blumenthal supporter, Longobardi acknowledged that McMahon is “a really nice lady, for sure.” And he said her staff “joked and blocked (his video shots) but it could have been way worse.”
How much did Longobardi get paid for his work?
“Not enough,” he said. “Good thing I’m living with my parents while doing this.”