Clinton told her workers she's excited about the campaign and feels some momentum going her way. She signed autographs and had pictures made with several folks, including the two daughters of Steve and Heather Henry. Clinton also shook hands with several folks who waited behind barricades on the sidewalk in front of her HQ on Bardstown Rd.

There was one semi-tense moment when Clinton advance man Sam Meyers told national and local media folks to head toward the street and the motorcade about five minutes before Clinton walked out. Andy Alcock (WLKY), his photographer and I weren't travelling with the Clinton motorcade and decided to hang inside the HQ to get more video of Clinton and perhaps ask a few questions. Meyers ordered us out. I told him we didn't want to leave and Alcock reminded him "this is our city" to which Meyers responded "this is our event!"

Clinton's Louisville campaign staff said the New York senator would have been happy to answer a few questions if her advance man hadn't tossed us from the HQ buildlng.

But the Clinton campaign isn't alone. It's the latest example of candidates doing carefully staged campaign events, barring local reporters from asking questions for fear of a feeding frenzy, I guess. To her credit, Clinton has agreed to do a number of one-on-one interviews with reporters from across the country, including one today with WHAS11 News' Melissa Swan. And it will be tough for Clinton campaign staffers to claim they're worried about questions from local reporters when Mrs. Clinton went one-on-one with Fox's Bill O'Reilly last night. Barack Obama, to my knowledge, hasn't done the same.

Maybe I'm too nostalgic, longing for the days of Walter Mondale, George H.W. Bush and others who fearlessly answered questions when they were asked by local reporters. It seems to me that politicians might be more in tune with what's going with real people who live outside Washington, D.C. if they repeatedly hear questions about gas prices, food prices, foreclosures and lousy schools. But that's just me.