Ahead of Super Tuesday — March 5, the day when Virginia and 14 other states will vote in the presidential primary election — Northern Virginia Magazine spoke with Margaret Brennan, the moderator of the CBS Sunday morning show Face the Nation. The UVA graduate has been moderator for six years. Based in DC, she’s also the network’s chief foreign affairs correspondent.
Face the Nation marks 70 years in November. What’s the most rewarding part of your job?
The most rewarding part of being a moderator of such an iconic program is that gift of an hour on Sunday, where we get to focus on the things that actually matter instead of a lot of the noise. To be able to curate things, to focus on what we see are some really incredibly serious issues facing the country at this moment in time.
How have things changed in politics in the time that you’ve been moderator?
Everything sort of hit fast forward from 2016 onward. I felt that as a correspondent; I felt that as a moderator. And I think that has just fundamentally changed the way we talk about and experience politics. That didn’t end with the Trump administration. That has continued through the Biden administration, because our globe is in a period of change.
Virginia votes in the presidential primary on Super Tuesday. How is the 2024 race shaping up?
This is not in any way a standard election. For Super Tuesday, we’re going in with an assumed outcome, but there’s that open question mark of: What does it look like by the time we get to the conventions? Is Donald Trump still the nominee of that party and in a head-to-head race? How does Joe Biden actually pull off a way to win, when, in our current polling, he would lose to Donald Trump? This is a really fascinating dynamic that we are watching play out and Virginia is a great example of one of those states where it’s a bit purple.
What should we watch for in the way Virginia votes?
You may see a very animated electorate, particularly in Northern Virginia. … I don’t think it’s an easy one to necessarily call given what we’ve seen with the Republican governor and a Democratic Senate and House, certainly for Joe Biden.
How do you balance a demanding job with being a mom to two young boys?
I’m very lucky that I have in-laws in Northern Virginia who help quite a lot. My husband is from Northern Virginia originally. I’m very lucky that my mother-in-law often steps into the breach to help us out. But it does take a village of support, certainly, for our boys. But there is no balance. It’s constantly juggling.
Feature image of Margaret Brennan courtesy CBS
This story originally ran in our March issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
