South of the James Goes Barefoot in Charlottesville

On May 16, I did my first radio interview ever as a featured guest of Coy Barefoot's "Charlottesville – Right Now" radio show, which runs from 4pm to 6pm on weekdays at WINA. Coy is an author and freelance journalist who heads up the communications and alumni affairs unit at the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership. He has been interviewing one Virginia blogger per week for quite some time in recognition of the emerging roles that bloggers are playing in the Commonwealth's public life. For example, Coy's recent interviewees have included Norm Leahy and Lowell Feld.

At 5pm, the show called and we went headlong into the questions. After going over some biographical details and probing my ideological leanings, Coy asked me a number of questions about state and national politics. We covered a wide range of issues such as illegal immigration, the Iraq War, terrorism, the Da Vinci Code, Sen. Allen's and Gov. Warner's presidential hopes, the General Assembly budget impasse, and others. Some of the questions related to recent posts that I have made on the blog, including my views on Newt Gingrich and the decline in intellectual weight among national Republican leaders. Still, for the most part, it was an extemporaneous effort with no preparation, just like a good interview is supposed to be. I also managed to correctly pronounce the last name of Iranian president Ahmedinejad.

The radio interview is slated to run as a podcast, and when it is uploaded, listen to it and get back to me with your thoughts. Some of my answers may surprise a few of you…or not.