Television Interview: HDNet World Report

HDNet World Report is a weekly news magazine that is very similar to 60 Minutes. Dan Rather was hired a few years ago to make their news division the best television news on cable, sort of like the HBO of news. It’s filmed in high definition and it airs in many countries worldwide.

They called me, they said, because I was doing something that no one had ever really done before and that I would be a perfect fit for their “Mavericks” series of profiles. The week before my segment aired, they had interviewed Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party nominee for President.

I’ve done some local TV interviews before, but this was a different experience and I was surprised at how much work it was. Four people flew to Kansas to make this happen - a camera man, a sound technician, a producer, and the interviewer/journalist, Paul Beban. They stayed for a day and a half.

My mom was invited to come over and talk, too. She told them a lot more than what made it into the final sequence - stories from my childhood, how hard I’ve been working, and how I lost my election for Student Body President in high school to movie actor Paul Rudd. This got the crew excited and they talked about using clips from “40 Year Old Virgin” or “Anchorman” during the segment, but thankfully they didn’t. I emailed Paul to give him a head’s up warning just in case they tried to call him.

The only thing that was edited out that I feel was really important was this: I created this unusual fundraising so I wouldn’t need to accept any lobbyist money. I could have raised all of the money I needed, if I’d been willing to let lobbyists have influence over my voting decisions. I feel that is wrong, and it is one of the main reasons our political system is broken. It’s one of the reason why I’m running against Arlen Siegfreid.

I think they made Olathe, Kansas look good. They talked about how we’re the place where the cowboy boot was invented and made it look like the charming community that it is. I figure the more that I can do to get the rest of the world to know how great Olathe is, the better.