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In the past Barack Obama has been accused of many things — having ties to a crooked political fundraiser, for one — but this, I dare say, is a first. In a recent column in the Henry Daily Herald of McDonough, Georgia, reporter Nicklaus Lovelady lambasts Obama for ruining his chances with a love interest working for a rival paper. Best to let Lovelady take it from here:

I had the looks, I had the charm and I had my eye on this pretty young thing who was doing an internship for a competing paper.

It took me nearly two months of running into each other at various news events before I worked up the nerve to begin talking to her.

And then Obama shows up.

The senator made his way to SIUE one day to introduce some legislation that would increase grants for students. Prior to that, me and the girl became really cool as I let her in on a few tricks of the trade.

The day Obama came, there was a huge press conference at the university’s student center with about 100 people inside the conference room and hundreds more viewing the conference on a big screen in the lobby.

Obama did his thing, and at the end there was segment for questions by the media.

After about five questions from different television and newspaper reporters, I stood up to ask mine.

“Wait a minute son, this is for professional media only,” Obama said to me.

“What do you mean? I work for the local paper,” I said with a crackling nervous voice.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you were a college student. You have such a baby face,” he said with an unremorseful grin.

At that point everyone in the room turned to look at me and laugh. The 800 people in the lobby laughed as my face was projected on the big screen.

Alas, the “pretty young thing” was laughing, too. And, after that humiliating episode, she was no longer interested in Lovelady’s “tricks of the trade.” “Obama owes me a public apology for making me look like a court jester and for blocking my shot,” Lovelady’s column concludes. “Until that time, Hillary or Giuliani will get my vote.”

Not about to lose Lovelady’s vote, Obama, who has yet to declare whether or not he’ll seek the presidency in 2008, phoned the reporter “to publicly apologize for messing up your game. I read that; I felt terrible. I didn’t know there were any ladies around. I just wanted to let you know that I’m deeply sorry.”

Presidential material? Definitely.