My day with Kathleen Sebelius

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius will soon be heading into nomination hearings to be secretary of Health and Human Services under President Barack Obama. But back in the day, before she was elected to either of her terms as governor, I got to know the then-candidate quite well.

In my first reporting job out of college, at the Topeka Capital-Journal, I spent a long, exhausting day (about 15 hours) with Sebelius on the campaign trail traveling around Kansas. I also researched deeply into her background, talking with everyone from old political opponents to her father (a former Ohio governor) and her college roommate. The result was two extremely lengthy but informative (I like to think) articles that delve into Sebelius' character and history. It was quite a package, with photos of her as a child, as a young woman, with her family at the time and campaigning, as well as other biographical information and online audio clips.

• Read the campaign trail story here.
• Read the biographical profile story here.

I have to say that when I heard Sebelius was being considered by Obama for secretary of Health and Human Services (even though she was a second choice) I wasn't surprised. I remember coming away from my day with her in 2002 thinking that not only was she going to become governor, but also that one day we would see her in Washington, perhaps even in the White House as the first woman president. She's intelligent, extremely energetic (I was pretty worn out by the end of the day, but she seemed to have boundless energy), approachable and clearly very politically savy.