I almost interviewed Barack Obama

I was all dressed up with nowhere to go.

That's what happens when the presumptive Democratic candidate for president of the United States of America stands you up.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

At around noon on Monday, I received a mysterious call on my personal cell phone from someone identifying themselves as a member of Barack Obama's campaign staff. The man said that Sen. Obama would be flying into Kinston on Tuesday - and would I be interested in meeting with the senator?

Well, heck yeah, I would.

The man said he'd call back. Yeah, right.

Now, bear in mind that I've become a bit cynical over the years. I took the number that showed up on my phone, ran it through a couple of search engines and it actually came up as Obama's North Carolina campaign headquarters in Raleigh.

About 20 minutes later, I was instructed by the man - who turned out to be Obama's North Carolina press secretary - to keep the senator's visit secret. We couldn't put anything up on our Web site, on my blog or in the paper to advertise his visit, which was to preface his trip to Raleigh for Tuesday's town hall meeting.

If we did so, we'd lose our accessibility to Obama.

The plan was for Obama to fly into the Global TransPark, where I and our chief photographer, Charles Buchanan, would join Obama and ride with the presidential candidate for "approximately 10 to 12 minutes, about 15 miles" outside of Kinston.

We had to be at the GTP at 11:30 a.m. for an ominous-sounding "security sweep." Free Press staff writer Jon Dawson suggested there might be a cavity search, which made me seriously question exactly how bad I might want to interview the potential leader of the Free World.

I wasn't told where the trip with Obama would end but was told that I had to arrange our transport from wherever Charles and I would be dropped off.

I was beginning to feel like I was in a spy novel. Of course, I was the good guy and Charles would be my sidekick.

But I digress. The next few hours Monday afternoon were really exciting, as I received a call from the Secret Service, a verification e-mail from the Obama headquarters and well-wishes from the few people I had told about the potential interview.

I sought advice from my publisher, Patrick Holmes, and Jacksonville Daily News Editor Cyndi Brown. I stressed over what to wear - would a suit be too much or should I go with a jacket and tie?

Needless to say, sleep was pretty much out of the question Monday night. When I did fall asleep, I dreamt of asking Obama questions that he could consider so deep that he'd share them with CNN and Fox News when he was interviewed in Raleigh.

You know, something like, "That Bryan Hanks from the Kinston Free Press is one smart dude!"

When I couldn't sleep, I got up, showered and decided on a conservative tie and white button-down with slacks, but no jacket.

I ended up getting to the office a few minutes before 7 a.m. Tuesday and worked on our prep football special section until a fateful call came at 10:15 a.m. from the Obama headquarters.

Yep, the trip through Kinston had been cancelled. Allegedly, the tropical storm that was sweeping through Florida meant that Obama's plane was going to go straight to Raleigh instead of landing in Kinston.

Obama's press secretary, Paul Cox, was very kind, though. Cox apologized and promised that if the senator came back through our area again, Cox would do his best to assure us another chance to interview Obama.

Among the lessons I learned from this experience were that the government can reach you anytime they want to (i.e., calling me on my personal cell instead of using an office phone) and to not get too excited about something you have absolutely no control over.

The final lesson? Make sure you know enough people to pick you up in the middle of nowhere if you need them to do so.

Bryan C. Hanks' column normally appears every Sunday in The Free Press unless a presidential candidate is supposed to come to Kinston. You can reach him at (252) 559-1074 or at bhanks@freedomenc.com. Check out his blog at http://bhanks.encblogs.com.