One of the most beautiful things about the political process in Iowa and New Hampshire is that ordinary citizens have the opportunity to ask anything they want of their presidential candidates. We’ve heard questions about big issues like Iraq and Education, more obscure questions on anti-trust legislation and depleted uranium, and sometimes very personal pleas for help with a voter’s specific, sometimes heartrending, problem.

But every once in awhile, a candidate will get a question from someone who’s a little, um, off the reservation, so to speak.

Take this man in Clinton, IA today — who said he was conscripted into the CIA, is the nephew of IA Sen Chuck Grassley and great nephew of Vice President Cheney, and claimed credit for the “accidental” bombing of the Chinese embassy in Kosovo in 1997, a project he called his “baby.” He said he had a $147 million claim that no one could help him with, and asked Sen Clinton “Will you help me?”

Senator Clinton promised to have someone talk to the man — and sure enough, two secret service agents were at his side immediately after the event, and didn’t leave him unattended until he drove off.

UPDATE: Things to watch for in this video — some dazed, mouth-open expressions in the crowd, the woman holding the microphone about to lose it when he says “that was my baby,” and the secret service agent popping out from behind the blue curtain at a very opportune time.