Talkin' Texas With Obama
Senator Barack Obama snuck into a dressing room/bathroom at the Austin Convention Center to do a quick interview with me this morning before an Austin Town Hall meeting. (Click on the image for the video).
I asked him whether Texas might actually be in play for Democrats, especially after Senator Hillary Clinton conceded to Evan Smith last week that Texas is "usually not in the electoral calculation for the Democratic nominee", but that Florida and Michigan delegates should be seated because they ARE in play.
"It's true that it's been a long time since Texas has gone Democratic when it comes to a presidential election, but we've had Democratic governors here in Texas fairly recently, [and[ we've got a closing gap in the state legislature here in Texas," he said.
Would he actually compete here, then?
"It's five degrees in Chicago right now, and it's seventy in Austin. You know that I want to come, as much as possible. We're going to have to see, if I am in fact the nominee, and if I am then I want to come to Texas."
When I learned of this opportunity yesterday, I started thinking about what to do with the five minutes the campaign was granting us. My natural inclination was to ask a lot of horse race/process questions... i.e., his reaction to the Kirk Watson stumble, how much money did you raise in February, etc. Then after a conversation with my main man and fellow journalist, Stiles, I decided it would serve more ordinary voters to talk about things that might actually matter in their lives... i.e., their power bills, their drives home from work.
In retrospect, I wish we could have at least hit the Rezko trial starting next week. Hindsight's always 20-20.
BTW, while Obama was walking out, our photographer Doug snuck in a question...
Doug: Has anyone ever told you you sound like [wrestler-turned-actor] "The Rock"?
Obama: Yeah, actually I get that a lot.
Wish I could hear your questions.