So I went to see Hillary at the Nashua North High School where Barack Obama spoke yesterday. A German reporter I know who was at both events said that his crowd was bigger, though some said hers was bigger at the start. But here's what's not in dispute: Hers was much, much smaller at the end. By my estimate, at least 500 and maybe 600 people had left before she finished. Why?Because she gave her stump speech (with some new twist, see below), and then took questions for more than an hour. Start to finish, and not counting the time people had to wait before she arrived and began, it was close to 1:45. That means some people invested, with drive time and waiting-to-start time upwards of 3 hours, maybe more, to see her. She was very thorough, very detailed in answering questions on disabilities, health care and even Irish diplomacy. But geez--it was like a Senate subcommittee hearing. I honestly cannot remember a longer campaign event.Rule 1 of campaign staging is try to have a room small enough to be full or overflowing; Rule 2 is to speak long enough but not too long and to keep them wishing for more. She broke Rule 2, and by the end she had broken Rule 1.It's as if, by taking every possible question until she absolutely has to leave, that she is trying to will her way to victory Tuesday on pure determination.She did introduce a new theme in response to last night's debate: "That's not real change." It was her punch line at the end of a series of votes or statements or decisions made by either John Edwards or Barack Obama, though she mentioned neither by name. In the first 10-15 minutes, it looked like Hillary was going to get tough, show something new, really fight for it. By the end, my legs were tired and so were those of two tall thirty-something women in heeled boots heading for the door. I asked them why they were leaving early, and they said they had children, and I mentioned that I overhead one of them say her feet were killing her. Did she think Hillary spoke too long? "Some of her answers, yes, I thought they were a bit long. But she was trying to give everyone a chance." That about summed it up.-- So I went to see Hillary at the Nashua North High School where Barack Obama spoke yesterday. A German reporter I know who was at both events said that his crowd was bigger, though some said hers was bigger at the start. But here's what's not in dispute: Hers was much, much smaller at the end. By my estimate, at least 500 and maybe 600 people had left before she finished. Why? Because she gave her stump speech (with some new twist, see below), and then took questions for more than an hour. Start to finish, and not counting the time people had to wait before she arrived and began, it was close to 1:45. That means some people invested, with drive time and waiting-to-start time upwards of 3 hours, maybe more, to see her. She was very thorough, very detailed in answering questions on disabilities, health care and even Irish diplomacy. But geez--it was like a Senate subcommittee hearing. I honestly cannot remember a longer campaign event. Rule 1 of campaign staging is try to have a room small enough to be full or overflowing; Rule 2 is to speak long enough but not too long and to keep them wishing for more. She broke Rule 2, and by the end she had broken Rule 1.It's as if, by taking every possible question until she absolutely has to leave, that she is trying to will her way to victory Tuesday on pure determination. She did introduce a new theme in response to last night's debate: "That's not real change." It was her punch line at the end of a series of votes or statements or decisions made by either John Edwards or Barack Obama, though she mentioned neither by name. In the first 10-15 minutes, it looked like Hillary was going to get tough, show something new, really fight for it. By the end, my legs were tired and so were those of two tall thirty-something women in heeled boots heading for the door. I asked them why they were leaving early, and they said they had children, and I mentioned that I overhead one of them say her feet were killing her. Did she think Hillary spoke too long? "Some of her answers, yes, I thought they were a bit long. But she was trying to give everyone a chance." That about summed it up. --Tom Schaller
