As promised, here's my report on Hillary's town hall meeting.

[Beacool]

My friend Alison and I arrived at 6PM. We were told that the doors wouldn't open until 7PM, but we wanted to get good seats. Since it was by invitation only, there weren't that many people ahead of us. A little before 7PM a camera crew from Germany arrived to interview those of us who were standing on-line.

Staffers came out a little after 6:30PM to check if our names were on their list, then they gave as a ticket with a number. At 7PM we went inside and were seated in a waiting area. We were given index cards and asked to write a question for the senator. They collected the cards in a plastic bin and pulled 4 at random. They read the questions and we clapped to show which one was our favorite. The same process was done throughout the country. Each one of the 22 Super Tuesday states got to ask a question and there was one question from those who emailed them to her website (the site had received 50,000 questions).

We were then taken upstairs to the studio. Alison and I sat in front of the stage on the second row. It was a small studio and the head count was only 150 people. Which was great because we were so close to Hillary we could almost touch her.

Around 8:30PM Carol Simpson came out and introduced herself. The media also came out and stood in the back of the studio. Shortly thereafter, Hillary came out to pose for the media and to say hello to us. She then went back inside.

Hillary came out promptly at 9PM and the questions started. Carol would announce which state came next and they would go to that location. Half way through the show a little girl who was sitting right behind us got to ask her a question. She and her mom had won the website contest and had come from Hartford, CT. The little girl was 11 and had been so nervous, but she did great.

When the program was over, Hillary posed for pictures with all of us. Alison and I got our picture taken by the now famous Huma Abedin. I intend to enlarge mine and put it in a frame. Hillary only left when Huma told her that the crew needed to clear the set.

Hillary was lovely in red and is a stunning looking woman. She's also gracious and charming. She didn't appear to mind having to pose for endless pictures and had something nice to say to all of us. In my case, she thanked me for all the work I was doing for her in NJ. A very classy lady!!!!

Alison and I left the studio as if we were walking on air. It was a great experience and one that I will always treasure.

[ORDagnabbit]

1. any substantial questions asked? n/t

[Beacool]

4. I didn't post the questions

because you can check them for yourself on her website.

[ORDagnabbit]

10. I was hoping for a personal response rather than a canned political response on candidates website

I've never been to one of these and was wondering how their handled.

did you get to ask a question or interact with her?

[Beacool]

11. No, due to time restraints there was only time for one question per state.

I did interact with her for a few moments after the program ended, but I didn't ask her any policy questions. She was the one actually asking us the questions. LOL! Such as where were we coming from and how were we doing. She was doing all that while posing for pictures and signing things that people were proffering at her. She was very nice and I was thrilled to have seen her in person.

[ORDagnabbit]

13. cool thanks. n/t

[Kittycat]

2. Why was it by invite only? Serious question.

This is some we've all widely criticized of GWB. Not only in his elected capacity, but in his campaigning capacity.


BTW - Glad you enjoyed yourself.

[Beacool]

3. Because it was a very small studio

and it was a way to thank those who had worked tirelessly with little or no compensation to help her win in NY and NJ.

BTW, most of the audience was fairly young. I would say 20s and 30s with about 30% of other ages.

[candice]

5. I attended a rally for Hill in San Jose last Friday...

...it was a great group and very multi-cultural. The place was packed (either 4,000 or 10,000, according to different reports, and people had to be turned away). I got there more than an hour before and joined the long line around the convention hall. The atmosphere inside was electric. The speech way beyond anything I've ever heard--filled with inspiration and substance. I especially liked the idea of removing private companies from the college loan business. Back when Hillary was in law school, she borrowed tuition from the National Education Defense Act at 2 per cent ("because our country thought that having educated people was part of national defense") and the amount she had to pay back each month was based on her salary, so students could work at non-profits and be teachers, and so forth, rather than being forced to work at high-wage jobs to pay back high-interest loans. She also addressed vocational training. There aren't enough trained people to install the solar panels that people want. With all of the jobs that have gone abroad (and she would remove the tax incentives to do this), we need to direct our human talent to the tasks at hand to become energy independent (the oil companies won't get any tax breaks any more).

Health care for all, not one person one left out. Also, the abomination called "No Child Left Behind" will be abolished, replaced with universal pre-schooling.

The event was transformative to me. I left a better person than when I arrived, amazed by all the positive energy. Parents were taking photos of their daughters holding Hillary signs. College girls were posing with signs in front of a backdrop of an American flag.

Arriving that early meant that I didn't get too close to the stage, but that didn't matter.

Having read the mainstream media reports, I expected only about 100 to 200 people to be there so brought paper for an autograph, but afterward I realized that something odd is going on in terms of how his campaign is being represented. I then dropped by a local campaign office to evaluate it. It was the most impressive group of people I've ever encountered at a campaign office (and I been hanging around them since I was a child).

I am donating money because I know that I'll more than be paid back by the kind of country and economy this candidate will give us versus what the other candidates can deliver.

And she is warm, attractive, and charismatic. Someone who is completely comfortable in her own skin. No preening, no arrogance, no manipulation.

[Lucinda]

7. Thanks for taking the time to post about the rally!

I'm in Eastern TN. No one comes here :) so I love hearing personal accounts!
With the media coverage the way it is, she's doing incredibly well. Glad to hear there was a big crowd. You'd hardly know that listening to the MSM.

[goodgd_yall]

8. Lucky you

I had a thought of attending that one, but it would have been a haul, driving-wise. I hope I'll be able to see Hillary between now and November's election day though.

[Beacool]

9. I'm glad that you had such a great time.

I volunteered in one of her campaign offices in NJ and we had as many young people as we had people in other age groups. One of the girls that came every day after school and also on weekends was only 17 years old and couldn't even vote in the primary!!!! We had Hispanic older women who spoke little English but would call other Hispanics. We had big burly union guys who were very funny but had the dirtiest mouths and we had plenty of professional men and women like myself who would come after a long day at work and on weekends. There were also African Americans (not all of them were for Obama) and Asians. The cutest kids were a group of 4 or 5 boys from a nearby yeshiva who started coming in on their own until the rabbi caught them. He talked to the campaign director and they too started coming after school almost every day.

Yesterday we had a great time! We started at 5AM sending out people to hand out materials at the main terminal hubs so people would be reminded to vote (We had the Giants rally and some people had to be reminded). We sent another group later on at the evening rush hour. During the day we made over 2,000 calls to get out the vote. The campaign took care of us and they had plenty of snacks, drinks and at lunch time and dinner they ordered pizzas. We ordered so many that the pizzeria owner said that he went out and voted for Hillary as a thank you for the business. LOL!!!

They also bought beers and wine for the adults after the polls closed and we all sat down to watch the results. We did have to wait until the press left though, several of the papers came to take pictures and ask our opinion on the results. I was quoted in 2 of the papers.

All in all, it was a great night. I left after they were getting the results from CA because I had to work today. The rest went to a bar since today would be their first day off in weeks.

[Lucinda]

6. Thanks for this!

Sounds like a great evening!
We were discussing how they came up with the questions for each location during the town hall...
Appreciate the info!

[Glenda]

12. THat's so cool! Thanks for sharing

:hi: