Sarah Palin: the one that got away

Sarah Palin, one half of the McCain/Palin Republican ticket.

I got started in this business writing for "The Blot," my school's once-a-semester-now-twice-a-semster magazine.

The first piece I wrote was a profile on Amy Huddleston and it turned out well so I volunteered to write another profile on an alumni the next semester after whoever had it originally flaked out.

The alumni piece is a pretty big deal for the magazine because not only is it a constant in the ever-changing magazine, but it gets the last page, the Rick Reilly page.

My first choice was Jake Scott, a former walk on at Idaho who had just won the Super Bowl with the Colts. I was unable to get a hold of Scott after talking to his cousin, dad, high school football coach, the Colts media relations team and a couple of others. It turns out Payton Manning likes to send his o-line to Hawaii after the season sometimes, making it difficult to track him down.

My editor, who scared (and still does) the heck out of me, told me to pick someone else since basically stalking Scott hadn't turned out so well.

I decided since Alaska's governor had came out of pretty much no where to become the state's youngest and first female governor and was an Idaho grad with a journalism degree, she'd be a good choice.

So I called the Alaska Statehouse and got transferred a few times until I got her press secretary. We played phone tag for a few days until we were able to reach each other and when I pitched her my story, she liked it and said she'd check with the governor.

I was told the governor agreed to do the interview and we set up a time for it to occur. Except, she didn't call me at the agreed upon time. So I called the press secretary back a few times until I got her and she apologized and set up another phone interview, this time promising me the governor would call me in between flights the next day.

That call didn't happen either and the press secretary stopped returning my calls.

With my deadline quickly approaching and not wanting to feel the wrath of my editor, I had to once again pick someone else to write about. I ended up choosing a student advisor who grew up in a bus and stopped going to school in third grade but is now pursuing a master's degree. I also knew exactly where her office was, so I knew tracking her down wouldn't be a problem.

The piece came out really well and I had forgotten about the experience until Friday morning when I got a text message telling me McCain had picked a woman to be his VP. I asked who and was told the governor of Alaska.

I knew exactly who she was talking about, Sarah Palin.

Man, I thought, how cool would it have been to have that story in my portfolio? Especially if she is in fact the first female vice president. Or should something happen to McCain and she becomes the 45th president, wouldn't it be awesome to pull that story out and be like, I interviewed a president or vice president before they got elected?

I think so. And it sucks more knowing that I had set up two interviews with her and got stood up both times, so it's not one of those times I can say, "only if I'd...." No, I did all I could do to make it happen, even had it scheduled twice and she left me hanging both times.

Palin will forever hold a special place in my heart as the interview that got away from me.

As a result, I will forever hold my vote for McCain/Palin until she, or her press secretary, gives me a call.