Our family today had an interesting encounter that I wanted to share with you. We were eating at El Pinto restaurant in Albuquerque. It is the most popular New Mexican restaurant in town, a large sprawling compound with a number of dinning rooms and patio spaces.

We were eating outside in the patio closest to the main road and had just finishing lunch when I saw the McCain bus drive by! It was followed closely by a number of police motorcycles, secret service SUVS, and press vans. It was obvious they were coming to El Pinto!

We figured we'd head out and see if we could get a closer look. I decided this might be my one chance, to ask one question of each candidate. I carried Caterina (16 months) along with me to meet the candidates.

I worked my way through a number of other dinners and secret service and finally got to the patio on the other side of the restaurant. I could see John McCain ahead of me shaking hands with folks. Sorry the picture is so blurry. I had a baby in one arm and an iPhone in the other!

McCain worked his way up to me and Cat and as I shook his hand, I asked, "Sir, I respect your service but, why were you against the GI bill?" Senator McCain, paused, he looked a bit surprised at the question and then he said, "Nice to meet you." I repeated the question and he repeated his non-answer. He quickly worked his way down the line. So much for straight-talk!

I have been genuinely curious as to why he wouldn't support a bill so important to veterans (McCain opposed this bill from the beginning and then skipped the vote). Also, I was surprised at myself as I as I almost involuntarily prefaced my question with, "Sir, I respect your service but..." No wonder he's gotten a free ride by the press, I think this reaction is not unique and the press must feel the same pressure that I felt. Perhaps that explains why his poor support for veteran issues isn't well known.

Sarah Palin was next! I couldn't resist trying for a better photo. It is still blurry, but talk about a close encounter.

Sarah first looked at Caterina said hello, and I shook her hand. I asked, "Are supporting Ted Stevens this year?" She replied, "He's under indictment you know...his trial is in September." I replied, "But are you voting for him?" She walked away without answering.

I don't think this question will be answered until after Senator Stevens' trial in September and perhaps never. After all, Ted Stevens is still running for the Senate this year and a Republican vote, corrupt or not, is still a Republican vote. I was amazed that she offered up, "He's under indictment you know." She's going to need some serious handling before they let her into the wild!

I followed Governor Palin out and they stopped to purchase some salsa. This whole stop was just a photo-op and my questions, any questions were obviously not part of the script. No townhall meeting here.

After less than 15 minutes at the Restaurant the Straight-NoTalk Express headed out.

My wife Angela was at the entrance with my son Andrea holding up a home made Obama sign and shouting at McCain, Palin and the press. It made me very proud. A memorable lunch at El Pinto.

LEE’S SUMMIT, MO -- Palin said here today that Obama “still can’t acknowledge the coming victory in Iraq.”

“He said he’s for change. But in Iraq, change happened, and that’s a great thing for America, senator,” Palin said at a rally with McCain at The Pavilion at John Knox Village, about 23 miles southeast of Kansas City.

Palin also repeated her line -- which fact-checkers mostly dispute -- that she stopped the infamous Bridge to Nowhere. “I told Congress ‘thanks but no thanks’ for that Bridge to Nowhere. If the state wanted to build a bridge, we’d build it ourselves.”

But as our friends at Politifact put it: "In the fall of 2005, Congress removed the language specifically directing the money to the bridge, but it kept the money in place and left it up to Alaska to decide which transportation projects the state would like to spend it on. By the time Palin pulled the plug on the Gravina bridge project in September 2007, much of the federal funding for the bridge had already been diverted to other transportation projects."

Later today, Palin will take her first solo flight -- without McCain -- but has no solo events scheduled. She is skipping a Chicago fundraiser McCain and is heading straight to Cincinnati, where she will attend events with McCain on Tuesday. Campaign aides said spending the time in Ohio was a better use of her time, but would not detail what she would be doing.