At around 8:15 this morning, I walked into the sports complex at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina.  It is about two minutes from my home and has served as my regular exercise space.  It is almost always deserted.  As I entered the gym, I spied a unavoidably conspicuous Secret Service agent.  And then suddenly Barack Obama walked in, sat on the stationary bike next to me, and started his routine.

Word around town had it that Obama was rehearsing in Asheville for tonight’s debate in Nashville.  He staged a rally at the local high school on Sunday and a fundraiser at the Grove Park Saturday night. I assumed he wasn’t staying at the hotel, a grand old Asheville landmark, because there was no visible security presence around.

As Obama started pedaling, I introduced myself and told him that, though I was a McCain supporter, I was glad he was the Democratic nominee.  We talked about the beauty of Asheville in the autumn. I told him I had lived in Nashville for a decade, where he will journey today to appear in tonight’s debate with John McCain, and that he should give regards tonight to my former Congressman, Jim Cooper. Cooper is a real blue dog Democrat, a budget hawk, and surely one of the smartest guys in the House. I told Obama that if elected, he should appoint Cooper as head of the Office of Management and Budget. He didn’t take the bait, but let me know that Cooper has been his long-time supporter.

While on the treadmill, I had been watching Zbigniew Brzezinski plugging his book on his daughter’s morning show on MSNBC.  It was Zbig’s usual “eight years of failed leadership” talk and the need to be more “intelligent” on foreign policy.  Since no one else seemed to notice Obama’s presence – there were maybe five people in the gym – I decided to take full advantage of this informal advice-giving moment.  ”Don’t listen to Brzezinski, he’s awful,” I told him. “He’s on TV talking about making deals with the Taliban.” He didn’t respond.

Two observations about my odd encounter with greatness. First, if Obama wins, I think the question of  Jim Cooper’s presence or lack thereof in a senior post will be a bellwether. Cooper has lots of friends on the Republican side and lots of Democratic enemies. While I think some of his judgments are wrong, he is a “bitter medicine” budget guy who won’t sign off on runaway spending.  We will get a good sense of the direction of a Democratic Administration based on his inclusion or exclusion.

Second, Obama’s security bubble – indeed, his whole manner — seemed extraordinarily low key. Yes, he had Secret Service guys outside the gym and no doubt more outside the building. But for about 40 minutes, Obama walked around the gym, walked to the water cooler, stretched, lifted weights, and meandered around the equipment in an unhurried way without a trace of self-importance. I remembered back to my days traveling with Bob Dole in the final weeks of the 1996 campaign. In Michigan, riding on a campaign bus to some Grand Rapids high school, the Secret Service shut down the Interstate. In both directions.

I’m reluctant to draw any deep meaning from accidental encounters such as this, but I have to say, the total absence of the standard imperial characteristics of late-stage presidential campaigns was impressive.

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