Last Saturday was great. An afternoon I’ll always remember.

I produced a crumbled credential letter to get past security. I squeezed my pint-sized camera next to Reuter’s monster lens in the press bleachers — and I focused my camera.  Not everyday do you get to cover Hillary Clinton’s concession speech. It was a close, confrontational and critical Primary race — and I would be there to witness the end of it. I remember keeping my cool while thinking, this shit is going to be historic. 

 Originally posted to THINK.MTV.COM

Thanks to everyone who stopped to tell my camera their thoughts.  Definitely post a comment and let me know what you think about Clinton’s campaign, her endorsement of Obama or what her next steps might be.

On April 24th, Helen Thomas wrote in her weekly column, “if history repeats itself, the loser of this year’s presidential election will blame the news media.” [SEE FULL ARTICLE, "The Loser Always Blame the Media"]

With the recent case of Hillary versus Barack, Helen’s assessment was spot on.

Last Saturday I had a unexpected, and even scary, confrontation. I was interviewing demonstrators at the DNC Rules meeting and had spoken to about seven people on camera. All of them supported Senator Clinton and wanted the votes in Michigan and Florida to count.

After the interviews, I was getting b-roll when I saw a guy wearing an Obama sign. I hadn’t talked to any Obama supporters so I thought this would help round my story out. He said he would talk to me, so with that, we moved away from the crowd to a quiet area. And I started to roll the camera.

I didn’t know it, but this exchange, between me, “the media” and him “the Obama fan” would come to sum up the hostility Clinton fans have felt towards the media in this primary season.

Within a minute, Clinton fans spotted me talking to the lone Obama guy and lids started to flip. I was trying to focus on the interview but I couldn’t. Loud, confrontational slurs were being directed at me. I looked over and saw two aggressive Hillary fans only an arm length away from my camera. They started yelling into the lens “This is all your fault! You’re to blame! You and the media!”

To my silent and even confused look, they went on.

“Why are you interviewing this fool?…It’s always like the media to support Obama!”

I could hardly believe it. I mean, me? This is my fault? A million thoughts ran through my head. My heart raced. This was the second time during my MTV tenure as a one-man-band that my safety felt in jeopardy. Never during, but always after, I kind of love it. It really puts me in touch with how people feel.

Within a few seconds, two cordial Clinton supporters came over and walked them away. I turned back around and went on with the interview.

The story came back to me as the North Carolina Street Teamer, Carla Babb, wrote an article about whether or not the media had favored Obama over Clinton.

With that experience fresh in my mind, here’s what I think.

To Helen’s point, the loser (and the campaign supporters) might always blame the media. But as I experienced, the assertion that my work somehow reduced (or on the flip, improved) a candidate’s political standing, while quite complimentary, is not at all true. At least I don’t think it is.

But to the Democrats as a whole — hostility, especially directed at each other, is retro active in securing the November election. It would behoove Senator Clinton to make that known to her supporters. The finger-pointing, not always aimed in the right direction, digresses party unity.

And oh yeah, one more thing. I’m not the mainstream media. I’m a citizen journalist. SNAP.

I’m a magnet to events with young demonstrators huddled by doors of buildings they aren’t allowed in. And over the last five months, some of the most fun I’ve had is when I couldn’t get in. Instead, I’ve needed to immerse myself in the crowd, buck up and start asking some questions.

Afforded no press badge, it’s all I can do - and perhaps, exactly what MTV’s wanted us to do. Reducing us amateur journalists to nothing more than one of the crowd, tests us to meet people we otherwise might not, and spotlight different takes on the issues and election. After all, each voice matters.

This Saturday, about 300 people gathered outside of a DC hotel to protest equal voting rights - most in regard to the MI and FL primaries.  But after interviewing about eight people - I began to think about the bigger picture. What were they all saying? What did they have in common? And here’s what I came up with.

Each person, in some way shape or form, had an experience that left them, a relative or friend, feeling disenfranchised by our voting process. Whether they were turned away for not having the right ID or frustrated by the hanging Chad issue of 2000 - these people were pissed. Well, pissed - but also passionate. From a bright 17-year-old to a 35-year-old D.C. resident without a vote in Congress, each sent me the same message: this voting system is broken and we need to fix it.

Here is my video from the event that day. I hope I fairly represented the many voices I heard and in some way, inspire you to think that hey, this really does matter.

Sorry guys, I didn’t actually get to watch this one. Either way, I wanted to post McCain’s May 7th appearance on The Daily Show.

Speaking of McCain, his daughter, the McCainBloggette, is still at the blogging which seems to have taken off. In her March 9th YouTube report, she told more than 75,000 viewers that during a party at her family’s ranch in Sedona, reporters from the Politico brought her mom flowers.

Check out her recent video from a weekend at the family ranch. Is this what Crawford looks like?

And now back to her Dad.

Who said we can’t have fun this Primary season?

Here is my latest video for MTV. After I went to Sen. Clinton’s foreign policy speech last Monday, a colleague at Spectrum asked me, “So did you talk to the other press? A lot of the time, that’s how they get all their stories.”

The answer is, I hadn’t. Not because I didn’t want to, but because I was executing under an impossibly quick lunch break. Still, I was glad I didn’t have the chance. Here’s why.
 
In the days to follow, I watched headline after headline talk about the foreign policy speech I had been to as a “blistering attack on Obama,” and the “start of Clinton’s 5 Point Attack.”

Really?

Sure, she might have alluded to Obama’s willingness to meet with dictators at one point, but she only mentioned his name once.  The way I saw it, in the least mean-spirited manner (and most self-serving) possible, it was all about her credentials. It was a candidate, who is desperately trying to get back to what had worked.

But what had worked? As I watched the speech a half dozen times over the week, I noticed a familiar common thread to her rhetoric and campaign. Bush-Bashing. That Monday in DC, she did enough of it to re-piss off every Democratic ear in the nation.  That is, if they’re still listening.

As announced by the George Washington Hatchet, Clinton returned to Washington on Monday to deliver a “major” foreign policy speech. The speech, which involved an audience of a little over 200 people, was more a conversation with donors, as noted by the reserved seating, than for the students who were allowed to straggle in and find the few open spots minutes before her entrance.

Still, the audience at large was hardcore Hillary and hung on every word of her forty-five minute foreign policy speech which followed her common theme of experience. Based on the mosaic of expensive suits, bow ties and military Generals, I took away that this audience was less comparable to a true representation of the American people and more the Washington elites who play with their pocketbooks, especially when campaign season is abreast, like an extracurricular activity.

“The American people don’t have to guess whether I understand the issues, whether I would need a foreign policy instruction manual to guide me through a crisis, or whether I’d have to rely on global advisors to introduce me to global affairs. I’m lucky to have had a pretty good inside view, over the eight years in the White House and now over seven years in the Senate,” she said.

The speech came a day after the Washington Post published an article, The Value of Newness, by David Ignatius, who challenged the idea that experience won’t do much for the rapidly changing landscape of 21^st century global warfare. In the Op Ed columnist’s words, “the intellectual matrix formed by the Soviet threat, and before that by Hitler’s rise in Germany, needs to be reworked. There is a new set of problems and personalities – and if America keeps trotting out the same case of characters and policy papers, we will fail to make sense of where the world is moving.”

Could Ignatius be right?

The timing of Clinton’s speech, and that of Ignatius’s article, came not long after significant caucus returns: the Democrats abroad global primary. The group, made up of expatriates living across the globe, cast absentee ballots from February 5-12 in 33 different countries. The results, which were reported last week, endorsed Senator Barack Obama with an overwhelming majority of 65 percent of the vote to Clinton’s 35 percent.

Will this loss hurt Clinton more than others? If her speech was any indication, she’s not phased. Her candidacy may be fading with eleven straight caucus losses and a dipping approval rating, but none of that is demonstrated by her devotion to the campaign trail and her aspirations of the Presidency.On a closing note, Sen. Clinton spoke in a calm voice to the crowd.

“I will never let America’s good name be disgraced. I will always protect and defend our nation. And I will always advance the tradition and values that have made our country, as President Abraham Lincoln said, “the last, best hope on Earth.””

With the nomination hanging on her performance in Ohio and Texas, it appears Hillary has one last, best hope. A shot at the general election. 

In this video, I’ll talk about the upcoming seven Primaries/Caucuses and January fundraising totals. Excited yet? Oh, you will be…Looking back at the CNN Dem Kodak Debate, I consider the ideas of experience and transparency in government — who’s talking about it and who’s not. (And accept my apologies in advance, Clinton indeed won NH but in the moment I had a brain blank.)

Last week Presidential hopeful Barack Obama announced a fundraising total of $32 million in the opening month of 2008 ALONE. As reported by Bloomberg, the amount dwarfs his own records — along with candidates on every side of the field — including competitor Senator Hillary Clinton. Clinton, who just released her January total, reported a significant $18.5 million less than Obama.

Here’s my first official MTV video assignment!!

On Monday, Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), the younger brother of JFK, endorsedBarackObama for President. Thousands showed up to American University in Washington, DC for a chance to hearObama and be a part of the movement for change. Like hundred of others, I couldn’t get inside. But the story I got on the outside is just as rich. Check it out.

I want to know how the next President will interact and with the Press Corp. In my opinion it’s one of the most obvious indicators as to how they treat the American people. And an open and honest dialogue b/w the President and the press is relevant to every component of the way an Administration is run.It’s no secret this President plans out who he will take questions from ahead of briefings. What is that really about? It indicates he is unable or unwilling to answer difficult questions, questions that might expose flaws or problems in his policy. Well, if the American people lose that ear, of the Press Corp, because they are being stifled and controlled, then what kind of Administration are we looking at? It doesn’t seem democratic.

The trend didn’t start with Bush Jr, though. From my friend, a member of the Press Corp, I was told Bill Clinton used to have a closed door policy (one can imagine why) and rarely sat down with the Press. Of course, he had his favorites, as they all do.

Here is what I want to know. How many questions will you, the next President allow at briefings? Will you stay until the last one is answered? Will you determine ahead of time who you are willing to answer? Will you let the Press Corp do their job?

People my age need to understand how critical the interaction is between the President and the Corp. They are the first line of defense against troubled policies, lies and exaggerations. If the folks in Washington, who see him or her on a daily basis are being controlled, how can voters even begin to know the truth?

Hey friends. I’m in NYC for orientation but my attention, I have to admit, has been on the Iowa caucus (see results) and upcoming New Hampshire primary. There were a few surprises and upsets in Iowa: Obama took the win and Edwards edged out Clinton for second place; Romney was beat by Huckabee; and a Congressman from Texas, Dr. Ron Paul, held on, coming in fifth in the Republican race.

I decided to do a little research on Dr. Paul to find out what his deal is, and when I did, I learned several new things. While he’s a Republican and most of us associate that party with the Iraq situation, he doesn’t support it and wants to bring the troops home immediately. On the topic, he said this: “Both Jefferson and Washington warned us about entangling ourselves in the affairs of other nations. Today, we have troops in 130 countries. We are spread so thin that we have too few troops defending America.” For more of his foreign policy views, I included a link.

Another thing I realized about Paul which probably makes him attractive to Gen Y (as seen by his enormous campus presence) is he’s outspoken, seemingly honest and a strict advocate for the Constitution.

He wants to abolish the Federal Reserve (our central bank) and he claims we are moving towards a North American Union (think EU). He blasts the idea of creating a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) superhighway from Texas, through Kansas and into Canada (for more efficient trade) because of his strong view that we need to hold onto our national sovereignty.

Then there are ways he sticks to the Republican party lines. He’s pro-life, and no where on his web site could I find information about his position on gay rights/civil unions. He also distances himself from socialized medicine.

If you want to learn more about Paul, I’ve included some of his paid for advertising spots on YouTube. For a quick spot, check out this one: We the People commercial, to laugh but be (slightly informed) check out this one and for a legit news segment, check this NBC’s Nightly News segment.

Obama’s recent ad release, which was a 60-second spot made for Iowa distribution, comes from a speech he gave in Illinois. On YouTube, it’s gained more than 14,300 views.”I don’t want to pit blue American against red America. I want to be President of the United States of America.”