Hillary Clinton's Performance and Media Framing of Forum Results 2/18/2016

On February 28th MSNBC hosted a town hall event for the Democratic candidates for president former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders. This town hall was moderated by Chuck Todd and Jose Diaz-Balart both of whom are well known political journalists and have their own political commentary shows on MSNBC.

Unlike other Democratic debates that have occurred so far in the election cycle, this town hall was set up in a way that the candidates took a few questions from the moderators at the beginning of the night followed by questions from the audience for the remainder of the time. Senator Sanders went first and was asked a variety of questions ranging from immigration reform, his ideas on feminism, and his plans to raise the minimum wage over the next 15 years. It was unclear how this town hall would receive Sanders due to his recent image in the media being portrayed as a "single issue candidate." From the beginning Sanders denied that he was a single issues candidate and by the end of the night was able to close Clinton's national lead in the polls from 25 points in the middle of January to just 11 points in the middle of February according to NBC News.

But for a majority of media outlets, Clinton was the main focus of the night. After a double digit loss to Sanders in New Hampshire, the country was eager to see how she would perform. And perform she did. Clinton was precise and almost eager to answer as many questions as she could in a relatively honest, basic manner. When asked about the Supreme Court appointment being considered after the recent death of Antonin Scalia she said that Congress needs to do their Constitutional duty and let the process of nominating someone occur in a timely manner. When talking about this issue, Clinton acknowledged Senator Harry Reid from Nevada and multiple other Congressmen throughout the night. It seemed that this tactic was a way for Clinton to show that she has had experience working with Congress and that she would be able to do so successfully if she were to be elected president.

Clinton also stated that "like many Americans, I have evolved...in my views" when asked about gay marriage and immigration reform. These statements from Clinton were a way to depict her evolution as a politician and associate her with other like minded Americans. In an implicit way Clinton seemed to appeal to voters that have changed their minds on issues from the past to show that she has human characteristics just like everyone else and is more than the disconnected candidate the media has portrayed her as. Because Clinton was predicted to come back from her New Hampshire upset and perform well in Nevada and South Carolina, this town hall was a way for her campaign to reset themselves and begin to look at the larger election.

Day Three: The Clintons

From the Christie event our team hit the road to go to a Clinton rally at Manchester Community College. While waiting at the Clinton event I was able to spot several journaists and members of the media including Willie Geist, Mile Barnacle, Sam Stein, and Lawrence O'Donnel. This event was such a unique experience because we were able to see Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, and Chelsea Clinton all at once. It was truly a historic moment, no matter if you agree with their politics or not, these are some of the most well known political figures of our time. 

As Chelsea and Bill introduced Hillary, the crowd's intensity steadily grew so that everyone was severely excited by the time Hillary took the stage. She then talked for around 40 minutes about healthcare, making college affordable for young adults, improve our energy standards, work on giving women equal rights, and how we need to take back the country from those who want to destroy it. Her most notable quote from the rally was when she indirectly went after the younger generations who have been supporting Bernie Sanders in record numbers by saying "You may not support me, but I will support always support you." As someone who goes between supporting both Hillary and Bernie this quote struck me because it showed that Hillary is presenting herself as someone who cares more about getting young adults into public service because they want to have a say in their countries future rather than saying something that makes it seem as if she only cares about winning and nothing more. 

However great these speeches were the venue that this event was held at was not the bet to accommodate such a large crowd. Because there were so many members of the mainstream media at this event the number of people allowed in to the arena was very limited. This meant that I had to stand just outside the glass wall that separates those from the room were the Clinton's spoke and the overflow room where I stood. It was slightly annoying to be forced to stand in the overflow area because there was clearly enough room to stand near the back where the media was stationed. But with this being the only downside to this event it was begrudgingly overcome.   

By the way, did I mention I shook former President Bill Clinton's hand and almost got a selfie with him? Because I did and it was awesome! 

Chelsea and Bill Clinton introducing Hillary Clinton. 

The woman of the hour, Hillary Clinton in the flesh. 

My almost perfect selfie with our 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton.