Behind the scenes with presidential candidate, John McCain.
Jul 21, 2008
Recently I had a chance to interview Senator John McCain. His people reached out to us saying that he would be willing to give Outdoor Life an exclusive one-on-one interview if we were interested. It took me about a nanosecond to say "yes". For the record, McCain's people reached out to us first. In fairness, we are actively seeking to interview Senator Obama to see where he stands on issues of importance to sportsmen before the elections.
I wanted to fill the 20 minutes we'd be spending together with questions from all of you, so we posted the "Ask Senator McCain" spot up on Outdoorlife.com. The questions you posted were terrific and spanned a wide range of topics of interest to sportsmen. Thanks for sending in all the posts.
The McCain interview seemed easy enough. We'd meet at his hotel, tape the interview, snap a few photos and head home. What I didn't reckon on was all of the arrangements that go into such meetings. First there was the business of getting security clearances for everyone involved—our publicist, the video crew, the still photography crew and myself. Once cleared there were dozens of e-mails back and forth—how many video cameras did we want to use? (We ended up using three.) What kinds of backdrops did we want? What kinds of plants in the room? What kind of furniture would we like to sit in? How were we going to dress? What was Senator McCain going to wear?
I have to admit I didn't sleep a whole lot the night before we met, not because I was nervous really, but because I wanted the interview to be engaging and go well. At 9:00 a.m. we all gathered at the hotel where we were cleared by security. Amanda, our publicist, had been over the day before with both the still photographer and the videographer to see the room and talk about how we wanted to set up. The interview was scheduled for noon.
I thought 3 hours would be more than enough time to set up, but by the time we rearranged furniture, dropped curtains in behind where we'd be sitting to shut out the harsh sunlight, set the lighting, checked the microphones and talked about camera angles, it was time for the interview. All the while we were working on the video setup, still photographer, Ben Baker, and his team were setting up three separate photo backdrops on which to shoot the Senator and myself.
Heavy studio lights blew the fuses out (twice) and everyone was on edge that it might happen during the interview. The hotel folks even stationed one of their electricians with us just in case. The Secret Service ordered everyone out so they could "sweep" the room (no brooms, just sniffer dogs and lots of electronic sensors). They then wanded everyone, just like they do at the airport, and let us back in. One of the Senator's aides gave us a 5-minute warning. Then they told us he was coming down the hall. A moment later we were shaking hands and his assistant was wiring him up with a mic as he leafed through an issue of OL.
Doing these kinds of interviews is almost surreal. You prepare for weeks (in preparation I read both of John McCain's books), make your notes, rehearse how you want to ask your questions and role play on possible follow-ups. When you actually meet the person, you almost can't believe they're actually there. One moment the room is empty, the next you're interviewing a presidential candidate.
I started off asking, "Do you hunt and do you fish?" (You can see the entire interview at outdoorlife.com/august08 and the entire interview will be featured in our October issue). I remember being painfully aware of the seconds ticking by as the Senator recalled a giant catfish that he's been trying to catch (unsuccessfully) for several years and the new rod and stink bait he'd just purchased. He did apologize for his long answer and gave me a few extra minutes of his time to finish the questions I wanted answered. We talked about the 2nd Amendment, the assault weapons ban, public-land access, fisheries management and a host of other hunting and fishing issues. The minutes flew by and before I knew it, he was getting his photos snapped and saying good-bye. He thanked everyone for giving up their Saturday to meet with him, and then he was gone. Of course, our day was just beginning, as there were photos to choose, a transcript of the interview to type and video clips to edit.
The OL team finished a little after 6:00 p.m. with a photo gallery online with transcript text and video clips in the making for posting the next week. As I headed for home, all I could think about was popping a cold beer and sitting out in the backyard to decompress. Senator McCain, however, was headed for more interviews then on to an appearance on Saturday Night Live, then on to California on a late-night flight for more campaigning in the morning. It's a long road to Election Day. I hope somewhere along the way he gets a rematch with his catfish.
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