Gubernatorial bench forgotten in wake of Obama visit

My “gubernatorial bench” is on the rear porch of my Bristol, Va., townhouse, where it has been soaked at least three times a week for the past year.
Our sunny local weather aside, the bench is a joke in my family. It’s a bit rickety and rusty now, but it is a spot where several Virginia governors sat to be interviewed. Once a fixture in my office at The Coalfield Progress newspaper in Norton, Va., the bench accommodated then-Gov. George Allen for a brief visit in during Norton’s centennial celebration; Mark Warner, now a U.S. senator, when he was a candidate for governor; and later, Gov. Tim Kaine, when he was still lieutenant governor, but was planning to run for the higher office.
The “gubernatorial bench” was something my children would laugh about; a humorous factoid that “important” people had sat on the now-sagging, rusty bench out back. But that was before I attended President Barack Obama’s town hall meeting Wednesday at the Bristol, Va., Kroger, then interviewed him for about 15 minutes following the event.
Now, the bench pales in comparison. Sorry, guvs, this is the president we’re talking about.
After learning that the newspaper’s editorial board would have an opportunity to interview the president, I drafted a series of questions on various topics, including health care, coal and energy. We submitted our names, Social Security numbers and contact information to the White House press office to guarantee clearance for the event.
By Monday evening, my children were plotting schemes to come to work with me Wednesday. Not gonna work, I told them. My youngest, 8-year-old Miles, wondered if he could hide in the men’s restroom at Kroger on Tuesday night and sneak in to see the president the following day. Not a good plan, I advised. The Secret Service is pretty likely going to check the restrooms.
As you might imagine, anyone wanting access to the meeting had to come early, be thoroughly checked, then wait and wait some more. We arrived about 1:30 p.m. for the 4 p.m. event. Everyone’s purses and bags were hand-searched and everyone was scanned with metal detectors. We walked past flowers and cupcakes and snaking coils of electronic cables to take our folding seats. Obama’s backdrop was the produce department.
White House staffer Gannett Tseggai positioned us so we would be tapped and taken to interview the president as soon as the town hall meeting ended. She delivered on her promise, whisking us off to a break room near the rear of the store to wait for Obama.
We gathered around a tiny table and waited for the leader of the free world. The room seemed too small for a meeting with the president. There was no Secret Service inside; just a staffer, a photographer, some waiting gift baskets from Kroger and us. I expected more pomp and circumstance, but Obama himself opened the door, came in alone, shook our hands and sat down.
You can read the transcript of the questions we asked: three on health care, two on coal and one funny one to wrap it up. You can listen to the audio online, as well, at http://www.tricities.com. What you can’t get from either place was the odd sense of intimacy that we experienced with the president – four adults around a small table, delving in and asking and answering questions.
A regular reader e-mailed me Friday and asked if I thought Obama was genuinely engaged during the interview, or simply on autopilot in giving his answers. I told him that the president was personable, focused and seemed truly interested. I never felt like he was on autopilot. His staff wanted to pull him away after the agreed-upon 10 minutes and he said, no, that he wanted to answer the full slate of questions we brought. I also said that he and his staff were very accommodating and did everything they promised – a better track record than some politicians I’ve encountered.
Our exchange was wholly professional. It was not “Obama worship” as far-right pundits accuse the media. Our readers benefited by the access we were given Wednesday and we wanted to share all of the details by posting audio and transcripts online.
As for my children: It was after 10:30 p.m. when I got home and all three of them were still awake and itching to hear the details. They wanted to see my White House press pass and know if Obama really looks like he does on television.
I can relate to their excitement and am glad to see them express it. It is an exciting moment to meet a U.S. President.
On Thursday, once the White House e-mailed photos taken during the editorial board meeting, I put one on the refrigerator so my children could see it. Miles took it down and carried it around with him.
“Is this really President Obama with you, Mom?” he asked.
“It really is,” I told him.
He was speechless and just smiled.

Suzanne Tate is the opinion page editor at the Bristol Herald Courier and can be reached at (276) 645-2534 or .