TODAY at 1 p.m., I'm set to interview President Obama during a live radio broadcast from the White House. We'll be in the Diplomatic Reception Room, where FDR once held his fireside chats.
Our conversation will mark the first time a radio host has interviewed this president live on the air, "on campus," as his advisers put it. It will also be the first time I'll meet Obama personally, although I interviewed him three times over the phone during the campaign.
The conversations went well. I think they generated some interesting dialogue about issues of importance to Americans. Of course, their substance isn't what I remember most. They bring to mind cold pizza, Easter bonnets, Tora Bora, the lightning round and the World Series.
Our first interview came during my family's annual trip to Clearwater, Fla., for Phillies spring training. Not willing to risk our three sons' roughhousing while I tried to question the potential leader of the Free World, my wife and I decided she'd make a pizza run with the kids at the appointed interview time.
But Sen. Obama was late. Ten minutes, 20. Half an hour. My wife circled the block with three boys and a pizza. Finally, I told them to come home. They did, the future president called and everything went smoothly.
IT WAS Good Friday, and Internet questions about Obama's religion had gone viral.
I recall that he seemed to pause before responding when I began by wishing him a Happy Easter. Maybe he was worried he'd been corralled by some right-winger looking to test his faith.
By that point, just about everything concerning Rev. Jeremiah Wright had been asked, but I had one lingering question. I asked Obama if he'd ever had a private disagreement with Wright over his incendiary sermons. Obama was saying he disagreed with Wright's sermons, but had he ever told Wright?
Obama said he hadn't. "But understand this," he told me, "something else that I think has not gotten reported on enough is despite these very offensive views, this guy has built one of the finest churches in Chicago. It's not some crackpot church." The minute he used the word "crackpot" - a word I love - I knew he'd made news.
Our second interview came less than a month later, just before the Pennsylvania primary. My focus was the pursuit of Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan.
