My fellow groksters have already done a very nice job summarizing and analyzing last nights debate so I will try not to be redundant in my blogging here but offer up merely some personal, on-the-ground stories for you to munch on and swallow or spit out as you see fit.
I arrived about 5 pm and participated with a group to bring awareness to the fight against chronic disease, which if you believe the banner behind the airplane flying over the Whittemore Center and I have no reason not to believe it, is the #1 killer in America. Since I have a chronic illness, I obviously have a personal interest in the cause to prevent and treat chronic disease and was grateful that fellow grokster Patrick invited me to participate.
There were the usual people and signs behind the barriers promoting presidential candidates and the usual "cause" people as well. Ron Paul seemed to have the most supporters and signs and was certainly the most vocal.
PFCD/UNH Cheerleaders before Wednesday’s debate in Durham, NH
Our group, helped tremendously by a dozen or so chipper UNH cheerleaders with those perfectly formed, solid backsides that we post-menopausal woman have lost to the earth’s gravitational pull was probably next in participation and rivaled the velocity of Paul’s group. Yep, youth is wasted on the young. They were very sweet gals and did a great job with a cheer for the cameras on Memorial Field in front of the Center with some well-executed people pyramids, etc. They were great to watch; I think most of the men agreed.
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Romney’s supporters seemed to be next in line by mere numbers and signs, followed closely by Huckabee. Rudy, McCain and others seemed to have very few signs or supporters, but that seemed to make little difference once the debate started because the crowd certainly seemed to appreciate both of them.
The night was electrifying and beautiful even before the massive crowd entered the Whittemore. I love to people watch and walked across to the "reception" to grab a quick bite to eat prior to entering the Whittemore. There were the usual puffed up in their own minds local politicians, the way over-dressed, look at me group; the we’re richer and better than you crowd, many students in all sorts of varying attire from suits to shorts, and just about everything in between. I thoroughly enjoyed watching and listening to various people while scarfing down some vittles. It’s all free but you can buy a beer or cocktail too. The deserts were scrumptious and since I had an hour and a half drive home, I picked the free water.
Unfortunately, I should not have listened to my growling tummy because by the time I got back to the Whittemore Center across the street, I ended up standing in a line for over an hour to enter. I should have warn my "old lady" comfy shoes instead of my stylish boots…live and learn. Tickets for the debate are at will-call tables although when I got mine, it was a short line, so I made a good decision on getting my ticket early as the line grew as the night progressed. Some people near me were complaining that they shouldn’t have to stand in line since they paid $50 for floor tickets. Sorry, no VIP treatment so you might as well make the best of it.
The funniest behind-the-barrier participant was someone dressed in a duck suit carrying a sign that said something to the effect about "Fred, why are you ducking the debate?" Many photogs were, of course, snapping it’s picture and interviewing the quack, quack. Although, everyone’s group seemed to get "stand ups" and lots of pics from various press people.
There were the usual global warming alarmists who reminded me of the chicken little and the sky is falling children’s story. Some well-warn 60’s hippy-looking people were of course protesting the war and I had not so fond memories of the disgrace these people caused to our honorable men in uniform who fought so valiently during the Vietnam era. Apparently, some of them don’t know that the 60’s are over and you’d think they could at least change their hairstyle and up-date their clothing a bit. Personally, they simply disgust me although, hey, they have their right to free speech; unfortunately, they just don’t seem to realize why they still have it!
I walked the barrier line and stopped and talked with a Paul supporter and asked questions. Everything went well until the guy told me Paul’s position on troop withdrawal. He got very angry when I challenged him and mentioned he had 6 friends in Iraq who say it’s going badly and they just want to come home. Duh, I still can’t understand why people join the military thinking that it’s purpose is not to be trained for or go to war. I know recruiters don’t tell them that they’re going to day camp. His opinion, of course, differed greatly with the input I get from a heck of alot more commanders and troops on the ground through various sources. It’s always interesting when you peacefully challenge someone with a differing viewpoint and they get angrier and angrier. I walked away since the guy was becoming a bit over the top in trying to force me to agree with him. You picked the wrong gal, buddy.
I had the sense that Paul himself was rather angry as well so maybe it’s part of the entire strategy of the campaign. Perhaps it didn’t appear that way on TV, but in person it did. However, I agree that Huckabee did an outstanding job in the one-on-one debate. I watched Brit Hume and the other panelists who were smart enough to just let them go rather than trying to force the next question like those who conduct the democratic debates. Hume, Wallace and ?, sorry I just can’t remember his name, were quintessential professionals. They aren’t afraid to ask and challenge and push for the truth rather than accepting a bunch of rhetoric. This, indeed, was the most exciting part of the debate and the pros were smart enough to merely realize it and didn’t even seem to look at each other to confirm amongst themselves and just "knew" it was "right." I was impressed. These guys are very sincere and you can sense it, and they know when not to let their egos get in the way unlike the Blitzer guy.
The guy from Fox News who gives the instructions before the debate to the audience was honest and funny with the usual turn off your cell phones, no flash photography once the debate starts, and warned us not to throw fish on the "ice" even though we were in the UNH Wildcat’s hockey arena. It’s the custom to throw the fish when UNH scores. Another professional. Even the stage hands, make-up people, boom operators, etc. were complete pros. Everything ran like a well-tuned Swiss watch!
Prior to TV time, they asked the candidates to take the podium and let some press people come up to the stage and take pics. These people scurried quickly to be first to take pics and it reminded me of the term "papparazzi" in action. From my high up in the bleechers viewpoint, it made me giggle a bit as they appeared to be like a bunch of jack rabbits after the same meal.
I must say that the crowd was well-behaved although there was a bit too much applause sometimes to be able to hear the next question being asked even though we were warned to try to not applaud too much for too long, although laughter was certainly encouraged if someone said something funny. And obviously, from Doug’s post, there were some very funny comments and moments.
I was very impressed with McCain as well. Huckabee also went up a notch. Interesting that when they introduced the candidates, Rudy got a ton of applause but also alot of boos. I don’t recall any of the other candidates getting boos during the introductions, however, although some got a few boos during the Q&A.
It was difficult to judge who the audience thought was winning because most "hot topics" got a similar amount of applause from both sides of any of the issues. So, merely from audience applause, I’m not quite sure who really "won" the debate. Perhaps the entire republican party was the landslide victor since it was lively, very interesting and entertaining.
I departed a tad early so as to beat the traffic out and get home to catch Freddie on the Leno show. This guy is so comfortable in his own skin that it’s really difficult not to like him, although I already did like him from Law & Order, etc. Personally, I think he’s right that it matters not that he’s entering now rather than earlier…as though he’s gonna suffer from no name recognition or something; unlikely, huh?
Even though I’m an early-to-bed/rise person, I was very glad I went in person rather than watching on TV. It’s kinda the same as being at a live sporting event and getting caught up in the atmosphere that’s hard to duplicate from your lazy boy.
I’m excited about what comes next. It’s getting very interesting.
