The Page’s Q&A With Linda Douglass

Linda Douglass was one of America’s top political reporters for more than thirty years before becoming Barack Obama’s traveling spokeswoman last Wednesday.

She spoke to TIME’s Mark Halperin in Troy, Michigan earlier this week. (Note: Douglass and Halperin were colleagues and friends for many years at ABC News.)

Q. How is it going so far?

So far so good. I felt like I was running to catch a moving train and now feel like I’ve pulled myself on board. Now that I’m on the press bus, I just hope I don’t turn around and discover that I landed in the car with the snarling tigers.

Q. What metaphor would you use to describe the change in your life?

It feels like that ad for the Atlantis resort, where you jump into the pool, find yourself speeding down a long underwater chute and suddenly surface in an exciting new land.

Q. What has been the hardest thing?

Keeping track of all my email. I am terrified of missing one from “Halperin”.

Q. What has surprised you the most?

Apparently I can get by on a lot less sleep than I required as recently as last week.

Q. What’s the best advice you have gotten so far?

Bring only practical shoes.

Q. What’s the oddest reaction you have gotten so far?

I like to sample local food on the campaign trail. One reporter looked at me with either horror or revulsion as I devoured a popcorn ball glued together with corn syrup, a specialty of the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD.

Q. What have you learned about Barack Obama that you didn’t know or fully appreciate before?

I have discovered that Senator Obama is a serious movie and TV buff. To test his knowledge of “The Godfather”, I asked him who betrayed Michael Corleone by setting up the meeting with Barzini: Clemenza or Tessio? He rolled his eyes and said, “Tessio, of course.” He added that Tessio was played by Abe Vigoda, who, he pointed out, was also on the TV show Barney Miller, where he played Sergeant Fish.

Q. Have there been any moments when something happened and you forget what you are doing and reacted more like a reporter than a campaign staffer?

When the Senator visited a lunch spot in Rapid City, SD, I automatically reached for my pad to take notes. I realized I could just stand back and watch.

Q. Which is harder: spokeswoman or reporter?

Ask me in a month.