Morra and MKH in New Hampshire: Contest for the Changiest Candidate!
by Mary Katharine Ham

Morra and I muscled through two debates last night in which candidate after candidate claimed the mantle as Changiest in the Race. The Internet was spotty in the press filing room, which was the biggest I've ever seen-- a veritable sea of mainstream media--illustrating once again the irony that covering one of these events from home is often easier and more effective than doing it on site. (Video of Morra and me reacting and making predictions below the fold.)


I thought the debates were substantive and combative. It was interesting and beneficial to conservative voters to hear the Republican candidates really get into the details of their health care fixes and their immigration plans.



The Hillary camp must have been positively pulling its hair out over the question posed to Republicans about a hypothetical Obama nomination. Republicans took the question at face value and treated it as a real possibility, thereby designating about seven minutes of the Republican debate to Obama's resume during which Hillary was ignored entirely. I also appreciated the question about the dividends of the surge in Iraq posed to Democrats, which likely had McCain's people jumping up and down since he's the only candidate who can really claim being for the surge before it was cool to be for the surge.

Morra and I did a quick reaction video from the luxurious press room, which was a huge college gym. We throw out some predictions for Tuesday at the end...





Submitted by Mary Katharine Ham (view blog) on Sun, 01/06/2008 - 07:56

Comments

 

I love your video!

Wow - that was really fun to watch. Thanks.

Oops - meant to add, Morra: about the Clinton staying fierce and angry. You know, I would have thought that too but here's an interesting post by an Ohio blogger I know who is an Obama supporter. In it, he talks about how he saw Clinton as getting too angry. I left a comment saying that I disagree with him and that, in fact, his reaction that she got too angry was exactly what I feared might be the reaction of some viewers/listeners and that he should try to imagine switching the speakers. That is, instead of Edwards having been the one who was on the offense and Clinton having to come back at him, if it was the other way around. Would my blogger friend still have described Edwards as being too angry?

I don't think so. I think the perception issue - if Clinton being too angry while others are just being forceful or assertive or standing their ground - continues to be a problem. It's wrong that it's a problem, but from the very first time I saw the exchange, I thought "oh no - she's risking it here" because of this perception problem.

What are you sensing? (Mary Katherine too)

Jill
Writes Like She Talks

Submitted by Jill on Sun, 01/06/2008 - 10:34
 

Best video commentary on the NH debates I've
seen anywhere

Am basically wiping away tears of joy. Where else can we find smart, insightful commentary on the NH ABC/Facebook debate scene -- from the "changiest" candidates to the correspondents and their UGG boots -- with such a fantastic lack of pomposity and nary a whiff of punditry?

Bring it ladies. More please!

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder
Surfette

Submitted by Lisa Stone on Sun, 01/06/2008 - 11:02
 

Excellent job!

Will you two be traveling to the other primary states?! Hope so!! We need this BlogHer perspective ON-SITE! :)

re Hillary seeming angry (and I'm clear in previous comments that I'm not a Hillary fan)...I think she takes a big risk in appearing too angry. I say that as a middle-aged woman who's watched many women be shot down over the years by that angry double standard. It's completely unfair...AND I believe it's still very much at work in 2008.

The Land of Moo

Co-Founder of Bloggers for Darfur

Submitted by Marilyn on Sun, 01/06/2008 - 12:22
 

Hello BlogHers in New Hampshire!

Love seeing us on the ground and in the fray!

As for Hillary, I like her feisty.

Politics & News Contributing Editor
Queen of Spain

Submitted by Erin Kotecki Vest on Sun, 01/06/2008 - 14:04
 

Great Job Morra and Mary Katharine

Great job in N.H. -- I linked your video to my political blogs.

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan
also at CatherineBlogs.com and The Political Voices of Women

Submitted by Catherine Morgan on Sun, 01/06/2008 - 15:28
 

Thank you! And a note on Hillary's anger

I thought her slight hoarseness last night tempered her with passion and made her sound strong, tough, and angry in a good way. I loved it. She did not sound schoolmarmish at all. It makes me so angry when I read commentary like this, from ABC's the Note:

"...A savvy play -- Edwards could have been expected to jump on Obama, who with a win in New Hampshire on Tuesday could take a giant step toward sealing the nomination. But that wasn’t in the Edwards game plan, not this night, not at this stage of the campaign: ‘Any time you speak out powerfully for change, the forces of status quo attack,’ he said. Suddenly Clinton was alone, angry, and lecturing.

The words themselves don’t do the moment justice, but here they are: ‘I want to make change, but I've already made change. I will continue to make change. I'm not just running on a promise of change. I’m running on 35 years of change.’”

Submitted by Morra Aarons on Sun, 01/06/2008 - 15:46
 

Negative Response to that line

I was watching the stream with real-time people-meter reactions rolling and reactions dropped into the negative territory when she said that.

Unfortunately I can't seem to find that moment in the clips here. Generally Democrats responded much more favorably to Clinton than did Independents and for the other candidates, especially Obama, they seemed to be much closer together in their reactions.

Submitted by Maria Niles on Sun, 01/06/2008 - 16:17
 

Loved the video!

You guys were just fantastic! Wow!

I did watch snips of both debates. Since I'm living in the state where it's "all Romney, all the time" on local TV, I was slightly cheering that everyone was so nasty to him. I also found it rather distressing that the R's spent so much time on immigration. Is this the biggest problem facing our country?

For the Democrats, I would have to agree completely with my brother who called me halfway through to say "We (democrats) are in great shape no matter who the nominee is. What a group of well-spoken, highly intelligent and principled candidates. (I may not be completely objective here, laugh.) Seriously though, it is an impressive group.

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

Submitted by Kalyn Denny on Sun, 01/06/2008 - 16:04
 

Thanks for the Commentary and the Clips!!!

Great job Mary Katherine and Morra (Morra, you look alot taller in person than you do in your BlogHer picture)! Thanks so much for the video and the other related clips. My husband and I loved watching the "Change" clip from the Dem debate.

Funny how people see things differently. I too thought Hillary's anger made her look just plain defensive and mad. She made some good points about how she's been fighting for change for 35 years (change AND experience), but she would have been much more powerful had she made those points sans the anger. You don't have to be pissed to be passionate.

What I thought was just FASCINATING in that "Change" clip was how Edwards rushed to Obama's side to distance Hillary as the least "changiest" candidate. Not quite sure what to make of that strategy. Clearly he's trying to lobby to be a "Change" candidate too, but it's a bit of a stretch to argue that a white southern guy in the White House isn't the least bit status quo.

Amy S.
Up With Moms (http://upwithmoms.blogspot.com/)

Submitted by abswyg on Sun, 01/06/2008 - 16:19
 

This was great!

I got a total kick out of watching you two. Enjoyed the predictions at the end also. What does that mean, Morra, Hillary needs to channel her anger?

Nordette Adams is a Contributing Editor with BlogHer.org.

Submitted by Nordette on Sun, 01/06/2008 - 20:05
 

Brava ladies! I kept tuning

Brava ladies! I kept tuning in and then tuning out of the debates. First the Republican immigration rat hole, then the Democrats on who is the changiest. Loved your commentary!

Elise Bauer
Simply Recipes
Learning Movable Type

Submitted by Elise Bauer on Sun, 01/06/2008 - 21:49
 

Well done!

Observant, concise, well-delivered -- just plain smart commentary!

By the way, curious about the tech details -- what kind of camera did you use? How did you shoot, edit and upload the video? What kind of mic did you use?

Kim
BlogHer Contributing Editor|Professor Kim|

Submitted by Kim Pearson on Mon, 01/07/2008 - 12:32
 

Fierce!

You go Morra! Bring a little Tyra into this campaign.... What's always fascinated me as a photojournalist is the tribal culture of media -- print, broadcast, new media, one (wo)man bands). You only really see this lunchtable division at circuses like this campaign. Just a thought ... it might be nice to capture some b-roll (scenesetters) for cutaways with your commentary and analysis....

A.M.

Submitted by backyardbeacon on Mon, 01/07/2008 - 23:07
 

I suppose it's hard to

I suppose it's hard to remember that there are two parties (currently) in these primaries...

Submitted by thlsralv on Tue, 01/08/2008 - 14:44
 

OUR STARS (Oh, and New Hampshire, too)

WOW! You two were great and very gutsy with the predictions. The way you are covering all this represents all that is great about what BlogHer stands for, too. Always thoughtful and smart but never uppity or condescending - - covering WITH us, not AT us. Yay team!

Cynthia Samuels, Partner
Cobblestone Associates, LLP
Blog and Media Strategies and Content Development Online and on Television
http:dontgelyet.typepad.com/dontgeltoosoon

Submitted by Csamuels on Tue, 01/08/2008 - 17:25