C.J.: Mpls. Mayor Betsy Hodges talks about politics, superheroes and an improved home life

Seeing Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges walking on the street now causes me to hear the "Wonder Woman" theme in my mind's ear.

Hodges, with a sense of humor as wry as her delivery, certainly knows her "Wonder Woman" stuff. Interesting how a question about a musical act stumped her but not a query about who should play "Wonder Woman" in a movie. She also indicated that a gentle demeanor belies a tough core.

While negotiating the setting for this Q & A with Hodges' communications director Kate Brickman, we agreed that we wanted action in this video.

I desperately wanted to shoot this while playing dodgeball at Sky Zone, the indoor trampoline park, but that's in Oakdale, not Minneapolis.

Hodges jogs but I don't. The mayor suggested walking through the skyway, but I envisioned people constantly interrupting my video to shake her hand. I'll bowl but she wouldn't. She bikes but I couldn't figure out how to bike and shoot startribune.com/video. And we didn't want to reschedule because of unpredictable weather, a possibility easily grasped by the wife of WCCO-TV meteorologist Matt Brickman.

"What do you think about riding the Green Line together?" the communications director e-mailed me.

Worked for me. And I only had to deal with one fan coming over to shake the mayor's hand and take a photo.

A: It's been a long time since I lived there. I can't tell you what the misunderstandings would be now. I know when I was a kid I just thought the city was big and far away but that was 30 years ago. I [want] people to know that Minneapolis is nearby and it's accessible and a great place to be. I think people know that but the more people experience that, the more they'll be able to tell other folks Minneapolis is great.

Q: What advice did R.T. Rybak give you about taking office?

A: People are usually pretty careful not to give me too much advice. You know the day before I got sworn in was the big fire at Cedar Riverside and he was still mayor. He was the one who came and walked through but he was very generous and thoughtful, even in the midst of a tragedy … You need to make sure you call the command center, etc., etc. You need to make sure, if the families want to, talk to the families, be very respectful of what they are going through. He was very good on that day, helping the almost-new mayor get some information.

Q: Are you finding him a hard act to follow? Someone told me you were someplace where you were asked repeated R.T questions.

A: When I did the MinnPost Roast, I did the things you hear when you are the new mayor of Minneapolis. No 1: You look different from how you do on TV. No 2: You look better than your pictures. No. 3 is How's R. T.? And No. 4 is So how's R.T. doing? and No. 5 is That's not how R.T. did it. I did that whole list for people so they got the impression he left his mark on the city, for sure.

A: It depends. I mean, I spent most of my summer putting a budget together. … I would say that is both governing but that's also advocating for the city. How we display our values and how we spend our resources [are] ways we advocate for the city. It's a fine distinction. I spend all my time either governing or advocating.

Q: What part of family life has been sacrificed by your duties as mayor?

A: I have not sacrificed a part of my family life. I am now able to live with my husband as a result of being the mayor of Minneapolis. Because he's on the Met Council and I was on the City Council and our districts didn't overlap [so they couldn't live together]. He and I have been together for seven years and we have lived together for six months. Once I became mayor I could move into his district and I did at the end of January. The job wasn't enough change in my life, I also needed to move in January. So I credit being mayor with an enhancement to my personal life.

Q: Does your husband say you excel at one particular dish from his childhood?

A: I don't want to speak for him, but I would say if you were to ask him he'd say No, because I don't really cook. But my mother makes sure to make banana cream pie for him for his birthday.

A: Well, to the extent that either of us cook, there are some dishes that I will make. We'll grill out in the summer. A lot of it is eating on the fly, we're both out so much. We're working that out now that life is calming down a little bit.

Q: Who'd you like to see as the Democratic nominee for president?

A: I have not made a formal announcement of support for any candidate, but I do know that as an active Democrat I will do what I can to make sure that selection moves forward into the White House. That's my goal: a Democrat in the White House.

Q: Do you have a guilty pleasure on TV?

A: "Wheel of Fortune." Actually the only television I watch. I don't have cable. I don't have a DVR. So I know how busy I am by how often during the week I'm able to watch and I have not watched it in months.

A: I don't know. I think I'd be pretty good.

Q: Do you have a musical act it's hard to admit you like?

A: I must because I'm that kind of person.

Q: What's the fascination with "Wonder Woman?"

A: What's not fascinating about "Wonder Woman?" She's powerful. She's strong. She gets her strength from other women. She kicks butt in the world. You know, she's bulletproof, which is appealing. But she also has the Lasso of Truth. That's the thing I would want most, that Lasso of Truth. Because in politics it would be very handy. And she could fly now, on her own, she doesn't need a plane.

A: No, because I think it would be hard to find, when she parked it. If you have it at the Air Force Base and Air Force One flew in and they didn't see it, I mean, it would just be very complicated.

Q: Which actor would you pick to play "Wonder Woman" in a movie?

A: Michelle Rodriguez. I think she'd be great! I love the fact that I had thought about the answer to that question long and hard for a long time before you even thought to ask me. I've been thinking about that question for years.

Q: You bicycle and jog …?

A: Yes. I lift weights. It's one of the reasons I get up so early. I find that if I don't have enough physical activity in life I don't do as well with anything else in my life. It's stress relief, it's good health. It's fun. It's alone time, for the most part.

A: It's never been something I didn't talk about. I consulted people whose judgment I trust who think it's useful for people to know that there are sober people in the world, who've been sober a long time.

Q: You seem so, for lack of a better word, sweet. I would use that word with a man, so I'm not being sexist here. Is there another gear beneath that calm facade? Can you get into someone's face when necessary or is that just not your style?

A: I have made a career out of being underestimated.

Interviews are edited. To contact C.J. try cj@startribune.com and to see her watch Fox 9's "Buzz."