PHOENIX, AZ – One student’s interview with a state senator has become an internet sensation!
High School journalist Keith Wagner, passionate about what he does, relished the idea of interviewing Arizona State Senator John Huppenthal. The senator is running for State Superintendent of Public Instruction and Wagner wanted to pick his brain with a few questions. Wagner focuses on the massive budget cuts to Career and Technical Education funds and catches Huppenthal off-guard and utterly embarrasses him.
Huppenthal. whose website calls him “one of Arizona’s leading authorities on education issues,” looked clearly uninformed about the current state of the cuts and looks to be pulling off answers from the top of his head. He tells the young journalist how important Career and Technical Education programs are, and that the budget cuts to the programs are “simply horrendous.”
Perhaps the biggest problem with the interview video is the behind-the-scenes action going on. Wagner, among others, feel as though the video is being misused in order to score political points. Some Web sites and blogs are claiming that Huppenthal got up awkwardly during the middle of the interview and never returned. However, Wagner admits that the senator did return and was very polite.
Whatever the case may be, Wagner did his homework and research and was well-informed on the issue. Huppenthal, as Wagner admits, seem unprepared and confused about topics that were related to his upcoming vote for superintendent. The only person to blame here is Huppenthal – for underestimating the passion of a young journalist.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0xvGttFPCM]
