I had the pleasure of seeing Hillary Clinton speak in person at a campaign event in 2008. She was an amazing speaker. She is really impressive. She only used a couple of note cards to make sure she had local names and pronunciations correct. Her voice and persona in person is very smooth and clear. It was obvious she was very comfortable in her own skin and she exuded none of the the typical politician vibe. The thing that impressed me the most was how she treated the children near the podium. She talked to each child and shook their hands. She took extra time with the children even though you could see her staff were trying to move her on to the next stop. She would have none of it and took time for each child, as if they were the most important campaign donor. It was clear the children were important to her, you can't fake that kind of behavior. That event was a revelation to me. It is shocking how even those of us who think we are really informed are so easily manipulated by the media.

She is an outstanding person and will make a great president, if she chooses to run. No wonder the dirty tricks operatives are already in high gear. The right wing is terrified of her, because she knows what is going on. It is so sad to see so many supposed Democrats accuse her of not being on our side. She is on our side and the right wing knows it.

Thanks for the link, I want to listen to the whole interview.

Terry Gross is an unsung hero of interviewing. Very low key herself, but manages to get people to open up. Maybe being very smart but playing just about average and being low-key is the trick. Your defenses are down with this harmless little girl until she know the exact moment to hit home.

I remember one interview (damn it I forgot who it was she interviewed that day) where the guy was almost in tears for a while but ended up thanking her for for leading him to think of some things in a new way (Was it Robin Williams... ?)

And no one who heard it will ever forget the way she got that asshole O'Reilly so boxed into his bullshit that he stormed off the show. She used the bit in her promos for long time. Maybe still does.

Gross and Clinton are two masters of the game. To hear them go at it, not for spite, not to "win" but to play the interview game just to play it with another master you respect, is a "win" for all who listen.

I thought it was a good line of questioning, but I'd like to see more politicians asked that sort of thing, which I think is unlikely. If a politician evolves on an issue it'd be interesting to know if they're following the polls or not taking a stance. But I don't see any politician answering that question, it's extremely risky. Say you follow the polls, that means you don't take stances.