Yesterday, Mock and I met with the final, Indiana 5th District (that’s a real district you guys!) Congressional candidate on our list – Dr. John McGoff. We chose Panera, of course, because it was a cold, “need hot soup” kind of day here in the gray-in-the-winter metropolis we lovingly call home.
We were first greeted by McGoff’s Campaign Manager, Lou, who has one of those voices that should be on the radio. You know the kind. Bald, with gorgeous green eyes and a dazzling white smile and kinda Bruce Willis-y, Lou gave us the rundown on John’s campaign – how he turned 45% of the voters in his favor in the last election, giving incumbent Burton’s long-held seat a run for its money. In this upcoming election, John will be competing against three others to try and knock Burton out of his seat. And, for someone who has never had a huge interest in local politics (that would be me), this race has made it actually kind of interesting, to say the least.
John is what my family would refer to as a “go-getter.” The guy is a doctor, first off. An Emergency Room one. And you’d think THAT would be enough to achieve ‘go-gettery’ status, but noooo. He went into the Air Force National Guard and worked his way up to the rank of, well, General. And he totally LOOKS like a general. We could barely refrain from saluting him. And we don’t even know saluting protocol. THAT is how general-y he looked.
When he spoke of his work and his family (he has a brother who is a trial lawyer and a sister who is a nun!), I just HAD to make the comment that his parents must just feel as though they raised a bunch of total losers. Yeah. I mean, how can you be proud of that as a parent? A doctor, a lawyer, and a nun. And, oh yeah – did I mention that Doctor kid is also a General?
Wow. My main goal in parenting at this point is to keep my kid from eating lead and eventually out of clear heels and off the pole. But I digress.
So what sets McGoff apart from the rest of the 5th District pack? He’s got three-layer experience – local, national, and international. He is currently President of the Indianapolis Medical Society and has served on a variety of national, state and local boards including the Board of Directors for Community Hospitals, the Marion County Forensic Science Commission, the Indiana Organ Procurement Organization, and the American College of Emergency Physicians. He is a decorated Iraq War Veteran and has logged over 600 hours of flight time in many aircrafts, including the F-16 and F-4 fighters, serving our country on both a national and international scale. And, he’s a business owner. Oh yeah, and in 1996, he was elected Marion County Coroner, serving two terms, and he also served as healthcare policy advisor for Governor Mitch Daniels’ campaign, as well as a member of the Indiana Department of Health Transition Team following Daniels’ victory.
Add in a beautiful wife and daughter, and well…..like I said – go-getter. Hello.
Of course, we begged John to share disgustingly nasty coroner stories, as well as “what’s the weirdest way you’ve ever seen someone die?” tales. Because this is what we do, folks. He obliged happily, but we’re not really allowed to share any specifics. But Michael Hutchence comes to mind. And David Carradine. Basically, there are some really freaky people in this world. And, I know now that I’m locking my daughter up from age 13 to 30. It’s official.
On to the most important questions of the lunch:
Favorite band? The Beatles
Favorite movie? The Mission (we weren’t familiar with this, but apparently, it has a hot DeNiro in it, so I may be renting here soon)
Favorite book? Catch 22
Like a lot of our candidate lunches, we hated to cut it short (due to that pesky day-job thing). But in the time we spent with McGoff, we were truly impressed. He’s not only a down to earth, sincerely nice guy who’s insanely smart and a decorated war vet to boot, but he’s also very real. We like real.
Aaaaand, of course, Mock made us all take a picture. I’m boycotting these at the 8-month mark, by the way.
