From the Publisher

By Elizabeth P. Valk

When we decided to put Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton on TIME's cover this week, one important ingredient of the effort was already in place. National political correspondent Larry Barrett was right where he is every fourth January: ankle-deep in snow and knee-deep in politics in New Hampshire. Larry actually received three assignments on Wednesday: he contributed to the main $ story analyzing Clinton as this year's Democratic front runner and to a piece on George Bush; he also wrote our story on the four other candidates working toward next month's primary.

A self-described "political junkie," Larry is used to the sudden twists and demands of political coverage. He is on his eighth presidential race and has been following politics for 30 years, sometimes as a campaign reporter, a New York City-based writer or a White House correspondent. This year -- as every other year -- his practiced eye spots some important differences. "All the contenders are relatively little known in national terms," says Barrett. "This fact, together with the short preseason competition, means a candidate has very little opportunity to recover from a stumble." Because Iowa's favorite son Senator Tom Harkin has that state's caucuses in the bag, Barrett feels the New Hampshire primary is "even more important than ever." In addition, it seems that each year polling and television commercials play an ever larger role. But in January of an election year, a political junkie's proper place is shivering at the candidates' side. TIME's chief of correspondents John Stacks knows such coverage requires special qualities. During the early 1980s, he substituted for Barrett on the national political circuit. "Larry resists getting swept along by the fashionable opinion of the day by being skeptical, by bringing his experience to bear and by a kind of demonic reporting. He bores in and doesn't accept glibness." Of course, we wouldn't suggest that any of this year's crop of politicians tend toward glibness, but here's fair warning: Larry Barrett is back on the campaign bus.