(6News Employee Terri Cope, along with Sen. Barack Obama and me)

 One of the most interesting parts of being a journalist is that occasionally, you get a chance to interview someone of great importance or public interest.  It’s not every day most of us get to even see a speech given by a presidential candidate, let alone shake their hand or speak to them.  And Saturday I had an even more unique opportunity - a chance to speak to Sen. Barack Obama one on one after his talk in Plainfield.  (by the way, Clinton supporters, don’t worry - we have the same request in with her folks when she visits later this week!) The link below will take you to the spot on theindychannel.com where you can watch the interview.

      http://www.theindychannel.com/showcase/index.html

 I’ll admit I had a few butterflies going in, as I do whenever I’m doing a high-stakes, important interview. But after listening to him talk, I knew the topics I wanted to ask him about. Like many politicians are, Obama comes across quite warm and personable, and our small talk upon meeting (we chatted about our common backgrounds in Illinois) helped get the interview off to a comfortable start.  

    I had only a few minutes of time, and we covered the topics of support for military families, Iraq policy, funding for arts and music education, and how to bring a greater sense of unity to Indiana. 

    But for me, the most memorable moment was a little twist our discussion took when talking about the arts. If you watch the interview online, you’ll notice Sen. Obama made use of that self-depricating sense of humor, mocking his lack of music skills.  I wasn’t sure he was going to answer my  offbeat question about the musical artist who inspired him most - but eventually I pulled it out of him.  (you’ll have to watch to find out!)

    The experience made me grateful once again to be in the privileged position of having access to major players in the American political process.   As Todd and I looked around the room during the speech in Plainfield, it was impressive to see so many people so engaged in the process and enthusiastic about their favorite candidate.  What an American moment!

  Feel free to share your thoughs our questions here- as always, we welcome and appreciate your feedback!

Trisha