John Edwards’ SC Primary Watch Party
Yesterday, to complete my week long democratic primary coverage, I attended John Edwards’ primary watch party in Columbia, South Carolina. To be quite honest, I would have preferred going to to Barack Obama’s watch party but I was told that you had to have a ticket to get in. Getting a ticket wouldn’t have been a problem except for the fact that you have to be in Obama data base to get one. I’m sorry, but that is one thing I just couldn’t do. Since all of you know what the results are and quite possibly heard Edwards’ speech, this post will be fairly short. There are just a few things that I want to point out that probably weren’t covered by the media.
When I got there around 7:30, the party had already been going on for a half hour. It was being held at a local restaurant/bar that had an open area where a stage could set up for Edwards to give a speech at the end of the night. This was a very small venue but, to be honest, I don’t think he would have needed much more room. One thing that you definitely noticed right when you walked into the room were the two big flags located behind the stage. This seemed to be an upgrade from the single flag he had the day before.
Another thing I notice at this primary watch party was a guy in a monkey suit walking around the room. Shortly after I first saw him, he was joined by several other people in animal suits. I had heard that these same people had been at the University of South Carolina’s student union earlier that day but no one really knew why they were there. They all had buttons on that said “Hail to the Chimp” which is in reference to this website. I visited the site and still have no idea what their political agenda is. If you happen to figure it out, please leave a comment informing the rest of us.
By 8:45, the results were basically set in stone and the majority of people had gathered to hear Edwards give his speech. Around 9:10, the campaign staffers began ushering people onto the stage in preparation for his speech. Edwards’ national campaign manager David Boiner was up first to give a speech. One interesting thing about his speech was that he put a very moral spin on it. For example, he called everyone there his “brothers and sisters.” I don’t know, maybe this is standard nowadays in place of calling everyone “friends” but it still sounded a little weird. If you want to watch Boiner’s speech, you can view it here.
One of the few interesting things that occurred last night happened when a younger Latino man interrupted one of the guest speakers. He yelled out something to the affect that John Edwards’ campaign better bring on some more young people and Latinos if it wanted a chance at winning California. A campaign staffer immediately ran over and quieted the man and the guest speaker continued his speech while the staffer talked to the man for about a minute. The man was allowed to stay and didn’t cause any more disruptions the rest of the night.
John Edwards was late getting to his party. Not too late but late enough that the speakers before him acknowledged his lateness and lengthened their speeches accordingly. This brings me to a question: where are the candidates if they aren’t at their own watch parties? This isn’t just about Edwards but about all the candidates. I really think it would be cool if the candidates would actually be at their watch parties and mingle with the crowds. That would really give the sense that they care about their supporters. Honestly, what better way is there to connect with your constituents than being with them when the results come in.
Edward’s actual speech was short (roughly five minutes) and basically just reaffirmed his campaign promises. Nothing really new was said in the speech but if you want to watch it you can view it here:
John Edwards’ SC Primary Watch Party Speech
This concludes my week long coverage of the South Carolina Democratic coverage. Am I sad its over? Not really. I can now focus on other interesting topics that I kind have been putting on the shelf. Hope you enjoyed the articles.
They were promoting a video game called “Hail to the Chimp” which was created by original creator of HALO, Alex Seropian of Wideload Games. Gamecock Media Group is publishing this game.