Pulling the curtain back on the Democratic front-runner

He has the charisma, the speaking ability and a penchant for mesmerizing a room not seen in a presidential candidate since Ronald Regan. He has a glint in his eye that makes rally-goers simply eat up every word he utters. Since his now famous speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004, he has been elected a US Senator, become the leader in the Democratic race for President and attained rock star status. But in the end, he is simply a man and a politician.

Barack Obama wowed the packed house at UNCW’s Trask Coliseum Monday. Clad in what is quickly becoming his trade-mark white dress shirt with rolled up sleeves and light blue tie, Obama enthralled his supporters for more than an hour. If you were not there, you missed a lot. At one point Obama called presumptive Republican nominee John McCain "a genuine American hero worthy of our respect."

"But you won’t see that on the news," he said. "It’s not controversial enough."

Senator, here you go. I thought it was worth a mention. And I agree with your reasoning that we in the media too often focus on the negative things you candidates say instead of the positives.

Speaking of McCain, Obama often voiced their differences in how to deal with the war in Iraq. It has widely been reported, and Obama reminded the audience again Monday, that McCain has said American troops may need to stay in Iraq for a hundred years. Obama, we all know, is against the war. "I was opposed to this war in 2002. I will bring it to an end in 2009." And that’s typically where the newspaper quote or TV soundbite end. But under the roar of an ovation, Obama continued his plan: "I was opposed to this war in 2002. I will bring it to an end in 2009. We will focus on Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan." A fine cause, but more than I had ever heard him to say about the military.

Backstage after the town hall meeting, Obama hid away in a room to spend some time on the phone. Then, after making us wait for nearly an hour, the Illinois Senator rolled down his sleeves, buttoned his cuffs, put on his jacket and stood in front of a blue background, an American flag and a North Carolina flag for a round of five-minute, one-on-one media interviews.

The candidate’s confident, unfrazzled appearance, though, stood, at times, in contrast to his staff. I had to laugh at the young aide who was running the show at Trask early Monday morning. Those of us in the media thought he must be high level as we turned to him with questions and to ask for time to interview Obama. But once the rest of the circus arrived, Jake was merely the guy passing the buck while trying to order some sandwiches over the phone. By the end of the day, he tried to look important while carrying a small bag full of condiment packets.

But Jake was merely doing what he was told. And he did it well, it seemed. He became the messenger trying to avoid the shots we in the local media fired when we found out stations from Raleigh and Durham would get to interview Obama while we would be shut out. "Senator Clinton," I told another aide to whom Jake directed our questions, "gave us five minutes (Sunday) night."

In the end, we would get our five minutes with Obama, but not until after having to convince a higher-level aide that the process of moving a camera into position would take all of about 20 seconds; not nearly enough to throw Obama’s tight schedule into chaos as feared.

When it was finally our turn, photographer Sam McAdams and I walked into the interview room, where Obama was saying goodbye to the previous crew. I found him jovial, as we had a brief exchange about baseball, as I shook hands with him and introduced myself. But I found him far less warm and inviting than he was on stage; the private persona not meshing with the public perception. As urged by his staff, we tried to set our shot as quickly as possible, though the Senator would not take a step back for a second so Sam could white balance his camera on the white stripe of the NC flag in the background. And as we tried to begin, the candidate being offered free media time was more concerned with the setting. "Is that flag over my shoulder?" he gruffly asked as he pointed to the American flag. "That flag has to be over my right shoulder." Sam moved over, and we finally began.

The answers he gave were about what you expect from a candidate. As he rambled on about how to solve local problems like a need for senior care, affordable housing and infrastructure needs, I found myself sizing him up.

"He’s taller than me," I thought as I looked at his wiry frame. I became distracted for a moment by an eyelash perched on his cheek. Not even the most tedious of image consultants catch everything, I guess. It’s funny the very human things you focus on as you stand face-to-face with a man others have come to worship as some sort of god.

As the interview continued, Obama denounced an ad the NC Republican Party is running using Obama and his former pastor to attack gubernatorial candidates Bev Perdue and Richard Moore. Then I asked him what I think is a question asked far too little in this primary campaign: Despite his huge lead in the popular vote and his lead in delegates, Obama could still lose the election to Hillary Clinton if she gets enough Superdelegates. Doesn’t that disenfranchise the voters? The party will unite behind whichever candidate who wins, Obama told me as he dished out a full serving of political rhethoric. I pushed him again to answer the question. Again, he dodged and refused to speak to the possible disenfranchisement of voters in a party that has screamed for eight year about every person’s vote counting. It was classic politics. And with my time winding down, I didn’t have a chance to push farther.

Certainly my five minutes with Barack Obama was no way to fully assess him as a person or a candidate. But it is one of the perks of my job to be able to meet people like him and try to get some insight. As is almost always the case after I meet a politician, I offer this advice before you go to the polls: Get all the facts, and don’t just buy into the hype. There is more to the candidate than what you see digested into soundbites on the evening news. Obama asked voters to take him for a test drive; to look under the hood and kick the tires. It may be the most important thing he said all day. And it is advice we should all use to check out all the candidates available.