Hi Paul!

OK, sorry, had to get the obligatory AA joke out of the way. But it’s true. I’ve been a political junkie since I was in grade school and got my first paper route. I quickly learned that I would have to get up an hour-and-a-half early because I couldn’t get the paper route done in time. Why? Because I couldn’t stop the compulsion to read both Chicago dailies. I probably knew more about the mayor’s race when I was in fifth grade than my parents.

So imagine this presidential election season for someone like me. Sometimes I feel like a meth addict locked in a trailer in the middle of the desert with an unlimited supply. Or Scarface plopping his face into that big pile of cocaine on his desk. It was so delicious when the Republicans were still duking it out, too, but it’s somehow even more perversely fun watching the field narrowed down to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Tuesday night’s poll watching in Indiana was pure heaven. I love me a close race, especially one so close to my hometown Chicago featuring classic Windy City dirty tricks. It’s an election-night tradition in Chi-Town to hold back all the big city wards so the Machine can avalanche the GOP with votes. I swear, it was routine on election night when I was a reporter there to watch a downstate GOP lead evaporate under the deluge of Democratic Machine ward votes faster than you can say, “Kennedy beats Nixon.” So it didn’t surprise me one bit to see all those votes from Lake County, Indiana flow in like that Tuesday night.

I tell you all this to explain why this item about Obama’s visit to the House today just tickled me today. Politico reported that it was sheer pandemonium when the Illinois senator made a surprise visit over to the House today, but I had my doubts. Is this one of those typical honeymoon stories the media does when it appears someone’s on the verge of a coronation? So I asked a local Washington insider their take on it and was told it was all true. “Yep, that about sums it up. It’s pretty fascinating to watch,” the insider said.

OK, but I wanted details. Was Obama so charismatic that kids visiting DC reacted as if he were a rock star? Were Clinton supporters actually asking him for his autograph? What’s he like in private? What’s John McCain and Clinton like in private? We know their public persona, but what are they like in private?

The insider met Obama just once three years ago and said he was “very nice” and even posed for a picture despite the fact that my source disagrees with him politically “100%.”

My source didn’t have much to say about Clinton, but agreed with reports that I’ve read about the Arizona senator’s legendary temper. During last year’s debates on the McCain/Kennedy immigration bill McCain dropped the F-bomb when addressing a senator during a private meeting. “He’s notorious for his profanity-laced outbursts at staff and other senators,” the insider said.

Take it all with a grain of salt. Everyone in the Beltway has their strong opinions, sharpened by broken deals and past slights. And in my opinion a bad temper sure doesn’t preclude someone from being a good president. Teddy Roosevelt, my favorite president, (aside from Abraham Lincoln) erupted volcanically with the best of them, but, I think he was wise enough to allow himself to cool down before he made his decisions. And he wasn’t one to routinely get revenge.

So we’ll all get to know the candidates more now that the field appears narrowed down to Obama vs. McCain. I’m looking forward to it. Both appear to want to run issues-driven campaigns. That’d be another first in my life and I’d be delighted to see it. But I wouldn’t bet a lot of money on it. Years of having politicians tell you one thing off the record and an entirely different opinion for the record tends to make you jaded.

Perhaps Lewis Black was right this weekend when I saw him in Long Beach at his concert saying, “Hope is a young man’s game.” We shall certainly see — and very soon. I can’t wait.

UPDATE:

Check out some video of Obama at the Hill yesterday. Reminded me of all those pack-animal chases when I was a wire-service reporter back in the day. Are we really that obnoxious? Don’t answer that!

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