Republican Debate Coverage -- Continued!

Prologue: The Cheerleaders

While I was at St. Anselm for the Republican debate I took some interesting video of the various cheerleading representatives for our candidates. I was very surprised, though, that not only were the liberal groups placed in the same "corral" with the Republicans/Libertarians/Conservatives, they were also in many cases more vociferous and drowned the Republicans out. Er, folks: I thought this was supposed to be the debate where the Republicans got pride of place?

Read on...

I think this was a big mistake on the part of the organizers at St. Anselm. Their campus is more than big enough to be able to give these groups more space than this, and keep them separate rather than throwing them together willy-nilly, and I can say that I wouldn't have wanted to be cordoned off behind the fencing like this. This was really the only serious flaw in an otherwise superb job of management at St. Anselm and I hope the other debate venues learn from it.

BTW you can see from this video that the conspiracy theorists who were arrested later in the spin room were the most prominent people "covering" the Republicans at St. Anselm, at least at this point. That's Jason Bermas in the black blazer.

Direct link to video here.

The Candidates in the Spin Room

[Update: I have posted some new photos of the Spin Room to my Flickr account.]

[Update: YouTube is still taking its time encoding my six videos. I hope it has nothing to do with my harsh criticism the other day regarding their nonchalance at hosting jihadist videos as part of a "meritocracy", because even though I dissed YouTube pretty hard over that I think it was deserved, and I'm not a jihadist. But since they're taking so much time, I uploaded one of them (the Jim Talent/Mitt Romney video) to Photobucket instead. About 28 seconds into this clip my question begins. I realize this video is in low resolution; it was a technical issue that I encountered after the debate started. But you can very clearly hear the audio and his response. You can see Senator Talent (who I called Governor Talent because he was my first video clip and I was nervous. Oops!) wiping his brow: it was warm and muggy in the Spin Room after all the rain in Manchester.

Yes, I realize that it's a few days since the debate ended, but those days have been (with the exception of a very few minutes I've had to post a couple of blog entries) extraordinarily hectic for me since I returned from New Hampshire. I didn't realize things were going to be so busy here at my business this week, but it was just unavoidable if we didn't intend to lose our biggest customer. I apologize for the delay, but these video clips are still worth a look. (I'll have the links online by midnight EST tonight.)

I was able to get video of Tommy Thompson, Sam Brownback, Duncan Hunter, and one of Mitt Romney's representatives on the floor of the Spin Room. I was able to ask Thompson about the size of the federal government (in particular the Health & Human Services budget), Brownback for clarification on his plan to loosely federalize Iraq (cosponsored with Joe Biden), and Duncan Hunter about NAFTA (in a follow-up to another reporter who was asking about the indusrial base of America). I was hoping that Mitt Romney would appear personally in the Spin Room so that I could ask him to clarify what he meant when he referred to his support for an assault weapons ban in the second debate, but unfortunately Romney didn't show up in the Spin Room (none of the "Big Three" candidates did, mirroring the Democrat top-tier candidates.)

Tommy Thompson

The first video is Thompson answering another reporter's questions. Worth listening to for his views on how he did in the debate and his definition of the "two biggest issues in America". Thompson struck me as a straight-shooting guy. He wasn't upset about Fred Thompson entering the race (because he presumes it would take voters from Romney) and I thought he deserved more time during the debate (as did many of the people in the Spin Room who weren't center-staged by CNN).

In the second clip of Thompson, I asked him a direct question about the size of the budget for Health and Human Services. His recommendation was pretty candid and I wish more people would start talking seriously about doing things like he suggests, which is to basically take the air out of the ballooning federal budget by requiring the biggest agencies to cut back each time they submit their requests. How do you think the Democrats will feel about that? Note: When the clip starts, Thompson is talking about his chances in Iowa (he's optimistic) and health care. My question is a follow up to that.

Mitt Romney

I tried to ask a more probing question about Mitt Romney's views on the 2nd Amendment and particularly his statement about supporting an "assault weapons ban" but his representative on the floor of the Spin Room referred me to his policy director, Sally Canfield. I am going to follow up on that question until I get a good answer.

I was disappointed not to be able to ask Romney that question personally, but the response of his campaign rep. is worth a listen because he says that Romney wouldn't have said it if he didn't know a lot more about what he was talking about. Fair enough for now, but I'm not giving up on finding out about what he's actually talking about, and crucially, until I get a direct answer from the Romney campaign on his definition of "assault weapons" and what ammunition he thinks qualifies as "assault weapons ammunition" that should be banned. As many of you know, the most vehement gun banners in America believe that almost any kind or caliber of ammunition that can be fired from a gun qualifies as "assault weapons ammunition" -- inlcuding almost every legitimate rifle cartridge you can buy for target shooting competition.

Sam Brownback

Sam Brownback was one of the more popular candidates in the Spin Room and that cut both ways, because he was the target of good questions but also a magnet for some of the cranks and conspiracy theorists in the room. I admired his aplomb at handling everything that was being thrown at him in such an unruffled way, and I asked him this question about his plan for a Federalized Iraq with Joe Biden as a cosponsor. Brownback spoke for more than an hour in total during his time there without skipping a beat, on some very difficult questions. I thought he proved that he should definitely be in the "top tier" after listening to his patient and thoughtful answers. It was unfair that he was given so little time during the main debate. [Author's note: I hope the Senator will cut me a little slack for the awkward camera angle here: a few minutes before another reporter had been screaming in my ear to get out of the way of her camera.]

Duncan Hunter

Duncan Hunter had some of the most hard-hitting and candid answers of the night, and I was glad I asked him the questions I did about NAFTA. He made some very good points. Watch the whole thing. My question is a little bit into the video, on "what should we do about NAFTA" but Hunter really runs with it and tells it like it is. Why isn't this guy getting more press?

Epilogue

I learned a great deal about covering Presidential debates in this, my first successful experience as a credentialed member of the press. All of the faults and lapses in the coverage are my responsibility, but this was a learning curve I needed to ascend. There's quite a difference between blogging a debate from the comfort of your living room and being on-site, trying to get photos, videos and other material while competing with 300 reporters.

Now that I've had the benefit of some experience, I would really like to cover the 5th debate in Baltimore, Maryland on September 27 for both HinzSight and RedState. It was an exciting, rewarding and productive experience for me, and I know that with one under my belt I've learned what I need to know to do a great job in the future.

In any case, here is a list of things that I think are absolutely essential for anyone intending to do a credible job at this type of coverage:

1) Press Credentials (of course)
2) A positive attitude and rapport with the debate hosts
3) A good, solid laptop with WiFi
4) A digital voice recorder with an external microphone
5) A good digital camera with video recording capability and preferably an external microphone jack -- and plenty of memory
6) A couple of ballpoint pens and a notepad
7) Maps of the venue with all of your locations pre-selected
8) All the background notes you might need *pre printed* because you cannot count on having printers available onsite.
9) A TRIPOD and a remote shutter release for your digital camera. If you don't have one, buy a cheap one from Wal-Mart.
10) Earbud headphones for your laptop and/or DVR
10) Everything packaged in such a way that you can get to it quickly and easily
11) A collapsable umbrella that will fit in your laptop carrying bag
12) Assorted snacks, energy bars, etc.
13) Business cards to hand out when you meet people you want to talk with again.
14) Any assorted cables, extra batteries, etc. you might need.
15) Time. Get there early and learn how the place is laid out. This is absolutely crucial because at a large event like this you need to have the flexibility and the knowledge to change your plans at will and still know what you're doing.

I had most of these items, with a few exceptions. Unfortunately my video is grainy because I inadvertently left my large compact flash card at home by accident when I went to cover the Republicans. I didn't discover that until later in the evening, and that's why you're looking at these pixelated videos instead of the much higher quality video the camera is capable of. That won't happen again.

I was amazed at how useful and important the tripod was and how much it helped me to get good, clear photographs, especially in the spin room. My Olympus C8080WZ has an infrared remote control, and by hoisting it on top of my tripod with the legs collapsed (forming a monopod) I was able to get up and above the crowds in the spin room. Otherwise you're relegating yourself to poking your camera past people's ears, in their hair, etc., etc.

As a final comment, I'd like to say that we're doing a disservice to some of our candidates by focusing too much on the Big Three. I was very impressed with Duncan Hunter's answers on NAFTA and American jobs. I didn't intentionally miss Ron Paul, but I'm only one person, and there were other characters in the room that I was more worried about than him.

Have at it!