New eyes on Obama's speech

The sports metaphors, the applause lines, the simplifications, the wait – It was two hours from the moment the bomb dog stuck his nose in my briefcase, when I was wanded and waved in by the Secret Service, until Barack Obama finally strode to the podium in front of the Fieldhouse gym and hollered “Hello, Iowa,” to screaming healthcare fans.

Because of us, he said, this is the place that change began. But from the side bleachers with other local media types, Thursday's rally felt pretty Political Standard -- down to the rainbow human backdrop and official nods to local basketball teams.

I'm no insider but even I could tell this was theater. In truth, I felt pretty jaded. Only one moment caught me truly off guard: when Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius nearly called us Ohio. Although I guess I should have expected that, too.

“Boo,” the otherwise ecstatic-friendly crowd retorted.

There was one other surprise next to me in the corral for local journalists. A particularly short reporter hunched over a notepad: Alysa Goethe, 10, of Bettendorf.

Goethe was covering the event for Scholastic News, a gig she's had since last October. But Thursday's was her first political event. Between interviews she told me about all the things that struck her.

First of all, it was inside. The events she's seen on TV have usually been outside, so that was new. Then there were the people onstage – she'd never seen that before.

She was surprised, too, by all the standing up and sitting down, the milling around. Throughout, she took careful notes.

But in one way, Goethe acted like a seasoned reporter. She hustled.

Jumped up, in fact, when she saw Davenport Mayor Bill Gluba walk past in the middle of our interview. My heart beat with pride when I watched her corner Gluba like a pro. And when she'd done, I was able to finish up my own interview.

What did she think about healthcare reform? About Obama's speech itself?

“He got the crowd really pumped up about it,” she said, impressed. “I thought it was good that people were getting really excited about it, because it's really important.”

It was an important day for Goethe, too. This article is her first real shot at getting published in the print magazine – maybe even the cover. And you know what that means:

“If it's a cover story, it actually says your name,” she told me,  her eyes gleaming.

That fourth-grader was thrilled by the smell of a byline. Oh, she's on her way.