We keep hearing again and again and again, after we discover that a candidate has been interviewed on a podcast or show or blog by a white supremist or other disgusting lowlife that the candidate had no idea about their interviewer's background. That they talk to everybody and don't have time to check the background of the people interviewing them.
This is Bullshit!
Around 10 years ago I interviewed most of the electeds in Colorado. Governor Ritter, Senators Salazar, Bennet, & Udall. Representatives DeGette, Polis, Buck, Coffman, Perlmutter, & Tancredo. Numerous state legislators and in the City of Boulder city council members.
Almost without exception it was a major effort to get an interview. Reaching out 10 - 20 times was not unusual. And this was at all levels. I had interviewed most of the top state electeds and still had a hell of a time getting interviews with the Boulder City Council candidates that had a real chance at winning. And more often than not I would be challenged on my background (not just by Republicans) and what questions was I going to ask.
Equally interesting were the interviews that were never allowed. In the case of several I was told by a person involved in the discussion, who thought they should have agreed, that there was a major discussion as to whether or not to agree to the interview. With the discussion going over my background, how I had handled previous interviews, and if it would play out well for the candidate.
The candidate's time is by far the most valuable thing a campaign has. It is the only thing that is truly limited. You can always at least hope to raise more money. But you can't get more hours in the day. The campaign is very careful to make sure that each interview is going to have a better payoff than any alternative use of the candidates time. And the background and types of questions of the prospective interviewer are a large part of that.
So when a candidate claims they had no idea the person interviewing them is a Nazi or wants to treat women as in The Handmaid's Tale - they knew. They knew very well.
ps - The two biggest interviews I didn't get was Scott McInnis (vs. Dan Maes) and Gail Norton (vs. Ken Buck). Both McInnis & Norton lost their primaries. I'm not saying that not being interviewed by me meant an election loss. But the data sure points that way :)
