| One hour to this debate, and the press is filing in. They've blocked off a few streets on Hollywood Boulevard, as they do for the Oscars. Here's what I'm seeing:
• The visibility outside is TREMENDOUS. There's going to be a big-screen TV outside the Kodak Theater, and both camps invited their supporters. There are duelling chants going on outside.
• Inside the theater, which seats 2,500, I expect the crowd to be pretty raucous. I think you'll see a good deal of energy that could bring something different out of the candidates.
• It's a sit-down format. In addition to Wolf Blitzer, the LA Times' Doyle McManus and Jeanne Cummings of The Politico will be moderators.
• We'll see if the twin attacks on Hillary Clinton in the press today, ABC's report about her silence to anti-union activity on the board of Wal-Mart, and what is being called Borat-gate, Bill Clinton's support for a donor to his Clinton Global Initiative to get a mining deal in Kazakhstan, will be brought up tonight. It's CNN, so I expect them to wade into the mud at least a little bit. If Jake Tapper's lunatic moment comes up, where he claimed Bill Clinton said the opposite of what he actually said, I think I'll break through the velvet ropes and jump onto the stage myself.
• UPDATE: Breaking news is that SEIU's United Health Care Workers' union, who had previously endorsed John Edwards, will now switch to Sen. Obama. They have about 140,000 members and will add some union muscle to Obama's grassroots field operation in the state.
• Also, this debate, like every CNN debate this year, is brought to you by the coal industry. So don't expect any piercing questions about global warming tonight. |
