Geez, no wonder

It's no surprise many Congresscritters aren't always clearly understood in print interviews. When you get all of ten minutes with one, you either have to rush through all your questions or give them a topic and let them have their head (politicians, like academics, LOVE to go on at length about things they're interested in - although I will say, usually the politicians are more comprehendable, oddly). You have to contact their D.C. office for the press secretary; you may end up having to contact a state office instead. Then you haggle over time - generally, they will call YOU, or their press secretary will (if you've interviewed the critter before, chances are you'll get the call from them directly after the first or second interview), and you have to wait by the phone like a lovelorn teenager at the proper time window. (What's always fun is when the press secretary conferences in during the interview, sitting at the back of the conversation like a particularly watchful spider.)

Of course, that's when you can get the person themselves. A lot of times the press secretary wants to know what your questions are, can they answer them, etc. I've done this several times, but I don't generally like it - I rely on the secretaries to *explain* unclear points the critter has brought up, but I don't care for them as a substitute (even though it's a tried and true method, perfectly respectable). I also don't like doing e-mail interviews, although I have resorted to that in deadline crunches.

Anyway, you've never seen a fast interview until you've watched an experienced reporter trying to get a few minutes with a critter on the phone - we can cover entire Cabinet departments in the space of 90 seconds, LOL. I haven't done it nearly as much in person, but generally if you're going to the trouble of seeing them, you may get a little more time. *G*