I find it generally unpleasant to meet major politicians. Not all of them, of course, but most. And it's not their fault. The nature of the relationship between politician and press is simply weird. They try to flatter you by pretending a familiarity with your work that they don't possess. You try and think up just the right question to demonstrate your combination of journalistic savvy and intellectual incisiveness. It's very hard to enter into a relaxed conversation because they are actively trying to avoid saying anything that could be construed as interesting. As such, I tend to duck such opportunities unless I'm actually working on a story related to the pol. But one of the real fun parts of the job is meeting up-and-coming politicians. They're younger, a bit less cynical, a bit more willing to engage. And probably the most interesting candidates I've met this year was Josh Segall, who's running in Alabama's Third District. He was smart and policy-oriented and even had a background in sustainable farm policy, which warmed my heart. He was running in Alabama, though, so I didn't think much of it. It's easy to be interesting when you're going to lose. But in recent weeks, Segall has pulled within single digits of the Republican incumbent, been added to Rahm Emmanuel's Red-to-Blue list, and received the endorsement of the area's paper of record. I sort of doubt I have a huge Alabama readership, but in case I do, that's a race you folks should be watching. And for those of you who didn't have the pleasure of meeting him, check out the Prospect's interview with Segall here.
