Obama visits Emporia
By The Emporia Gazette (Contact)
Originally published 11:38 a.m., August 22, 2008
Updated 04:12 p.m., August 22, 2008
Thursday was the day Barack Obama traveled to Emporia.
A volunteer with Obama’s campaign called The Emporia Gazette newsroom about 2:15 p.m. Thursday and said the Democratic presidential candidate was making an unscheduled stop in the area. A reporter would need to be available on 20 minutes’ notice, he said.
The call set off a flurry of activity. Reporters, editors, and publisher huddled in the smoking room in the basement to make assignments for interviews with the candidate and with members of the expected crowd, and to come up with a slate of questions on topics pertinent to this area.
The staff decided to ask Obama about his interest in Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and whether she might have a Cabinet-level appointment if the vice presidency slot eluded her. What is his stance on No Child Left Behind and, if necessary, how would he change it? Is stopping in small towns part of his strategy to win the election? Does he have a strategy for winning the red states? He knows that keeping tires well-aired and cars maintained helps gas mileage; has he compared the costs of concrete paving against the petroleum-heavy asphalt? What about windmills versus grasslands? And on and on.
Ten minutes later, back upstairs in the newsroom, editorial page editor Pat Kelley checked Obama’s schedule on the campaign’s Web site.
Obama indeed would be passing through Emporia. But it would be NASCAR star Elliott Sadler’s Emporia, Va., not Clint Bowyer’s Emporia, Kan.
A second call from the campaign staffer confirmed his geographical mistake: Obama was in Emporia, Va. on Thursday.
Editor's Note: Barack Obama is scheduled to be in Kansas City on Tuesday. Gazette staff remains willing to interview him and show him around town if he'd like to travel down the Kansas Turnpike.
Comments
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Posted by kelly (anonymous) on August 22, 2008 at 10:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
And he wants to be President country. Big difference between KS and VA.
Posted by kelly (anonymous) on August 22, 2008 at 10:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Okay that should have been President of this country.
Posted by blulitespecial (anonymous) on August 22, 2008 at 10:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Looks like the call to the Gazette was just part of the campaign smokescreen.Today a Kansas City company was printing Obama/Bayh bumper stickers.Later the Secret Service was dispatched to Biden's.Kind of an interesting "mistake"!
Posted by bdprotheroe (anonymous) on August 22, 2008 at 11:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Okay, all politics aside, I have to say this (and, I am laughing with TEG, not at). Having worked several years in the public relations industry, I can honestly say there are a lot of "young ones" (a.k.a. recent college grads) aching to chop their teeth. Sounds like an overly anxious YOUNG staffer for the campaign messed up.
But hey, at least Barack Obama now knows where Emporia, Kansas is, right? LOL
Brian Protheroe
San Francisco, CA
Posted by netloafer (anonymous) on August 23, 2008 at 5:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I think this is really quite funny. Like bluelitespecial I think this may all have been a smokescreen designed to keep the national media off balance, keeping speculation about Kathleen Sebelius in play. It's interesting that Obama has chosen Joe Biden as his running mate. Deleware is about as far from Kansas as you can get.
What I think is especially funny is the way the Gazette's newsroom staff must have reacted. They were probably falling all over each other. Heart rates and blood pressures must have been in the stratosphere. It must have looked like a communist fire drill. And, I can only imagine the flights of fancy Pat Kelley's ego must have been taking.
Posted by create (anonymous) on August 23, 2008 at 7:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Now, now, now, netloafer, you know darn well that if it was your staff, you'd be in a tizzy too with only 20 minutes to get ready for such a visit. Considering the questions they put together, they did a good job of thinking on their feet.
This may have been a smokescreen, but it sounds more like a greenie trying to sound important. Of course it was credible to Gazette staff in view of the Sebelius connection.
Posted by neighbor (anonymous) on August 23, 2008 at 8:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)
LOL Netloafer, I too found it funny and wondered the same about it being a smoke screen to create speculation about Katy. I also laughed about the thought of the Gazette staff getting all fired up to interview the Oprah's choice candidate.
Uhoh, the cats out of the bag now, the Carrie Nations of tobacco will be out to pounce on the Gazette for having the evil smoking room in the basement! Have you no shame allowing such a travesty in such a historic building??????
Posted by create (anonymous) on August 23, 2008 at 8:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Recalling my days of running around with the city editor of the Honolulu Advertiser, such smoke-filled rooms are the most interesting places to be when topics heat up. But I agree with neighbor on one thing -- here come the Guardians of Air Supply Purity (GASP).
Hey, it took me a few minutes, but it fits. LOL
Posted by netloafer (anonymous) on August 23, 2008 at 9:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Create
I understand. I know I'm wicked, but I just couldn't help myself. As I played the scene in my mind it seemed so hilarious.
I think Senator Obama is realistic enough to know that Kansas is a red state and will almost certainly go Republican in the general election. It's not that lightning couldn't strike, but it's a real longshot at best. I think that would mean that he's cagey enough as a politician to spend his time in the swing states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Virginia, etc, Kansas isn't one of them.
I'm actually undecided in this horse race. I was leaning Obama, but I'm wavering a bit.
Posted by rcakmon (anonymous) on August 23, 2008 at 12:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Oh right, Kelly. It's all his fault...because we know he schedules his small town appearances in his free time. Thanks for the laugh though.
Guess what? There is more than one Emporia that has a nascar driver. Can you believe it?
The Gazette staff should have known that Obama won't be making small town apprearances in Kansas. However, I give them credit for coming up with some good questions!
Posted by sg (anonymous) on August 23, 2008 at 3:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Nobody has a problem with the bait and switch of putting "Obama in Emporia" as a headline for several hours with no explanation? Anybody hear Gwen Larson's interview on 580 WIBW's "On the Other Hand" with Megan Mosack and Rauban Pierce? I felt the whole thing was very unprofessional. I didn't know my subscription was for the Emporia Enquirer....
Posted by jaredfromsubway (anonymous) on August 23, 2008 at 3:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I find it disappointing that Obama will only visit cities of his favorite Nascar drivers. Too bad Clint fell into a slump, as Obama may have came here instead. By the way, my buddy Tony is from Columbus Indiana, not Georgia. Google maps should start listing this to avoid confusion in future elections.
Eat Fresh
Posted by averagejoe (anonymous) on August 23, 2008 at 4:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
sg- I wondered that same thing. Here's radio show, for those who missed it.
http://www.raubinandmegan.com/podcast.ph...
Friday's show, third hour.
Posted by rcakmon (anonymous) on August 23, 2008 at 5:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I agree with sg and averagejoe. Not very professional.
Posted by gazette_reader (anonymous) on August 23, 2008 at 5:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Bummer for the Gazette, but highly amusing nonetheless. It's reminding me of the Colbert Report and the debacle regarding the city of Canton. If you haven't seen it, watch this video first:
http://www.kmbc.com/news/17055020/detail...
And this video second: http://www.kmbc.com/entertainment/171160...
Posted by esuhornets (anonymous) on August 25, 2008 at 8:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
sg I will agree that it was a very pathetic attempt to get a few more people to buy the newspaper. Gwen sounded bad on the radio. It just made her sound like she would sell her soul to the devil just to sell a couple more papers.
Posted by glarson (Gwen Larson) on August 25, 2008 at 9:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Sorry to have offended you, folks, with the radio interview. By the time other media started calling us, the Obama story was old news and I was working on Saturday's paper.
Our mistake when posting the teaser to the Web was not including a simple time element ("on Thursday"). Obviously, hindsight is 20/20, but this would have avoided the confusion on the radio interview.
The Gazette chose to play the story as the cute political tidbit that it was — not thinking about how much excitement it would cause with those watching what was being called the "Veepstakes." The problem was that the radio show talk jocks didn't realize the quirky element and was focused on the Veepstakes. There was no intention to mislead them.
Channel 27 news played the story for the fun angle in its 10 p.m. Friday newscast. And a Newsweek blogger did the same after he called the newsroom and heard the full story:
http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/stump...
Posted by jayhawker (anonymous) on August 25, 2008 at 9:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I think most of us understood the story, Gwen. Your paper has a decided editorial bent favoring both Obama and Mrs. Sebelius, and I think that it would have been easy to think that the paper was promoting a union between the two. However, even though I disagree with most of the editorial positions taken by the paper, I have always thought that you do a good job on the news side, uninfluenced by the paper's editorial dogma. This story was too good not to run. It is a classic.
Posted by mythoughts (anonymous) on August 25, 2008 at 12:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I thought it was great! If he's so "I'm from Kansas," would it hurt to actually visit every once and a while?
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