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 Four: The New Hampshire Statehouse

Since there were fewer scheduled campaign events to go to today because it was Primary Day a number of us decided to go to the New Hampshire Statehouse since it was down the road from our hotel. Being a resident of Upstate New York and living only 40 minutes north of Albany, the Capitol, I have been to the New York Capitol building countless times. The Capitol building is massive with huge, ornately decorated chambers for both the State Senate and State Assembly and an aptly named Million Dollar Staircase. The New Hampshire Statehouse in comparison is practically the size of a dollhouse.

We parked near the back of the Statehouse and were able to walk in without going through security, something you could never do in New York. Once inside we were free to walk around the three floors and explore the Senate and Representative Chambers, the Executive Office room, and the hundreds of portraits that hung on the walls. It was amazing to be in such a small Statehouse because it seemed as if democracy was right at our fingertips. Both the Senate and Represenative Chambers were significantly smaller than either of the New York ones and had a style dedicated to the colonial era whereas the New York Capitol building has a style that is almost gothic and extravagant in nature because it was constructed in the late nineteenth century. 

A mural in the downstairs hallway that depicted a battle on the third day of Gettysburg. This mural was gigantic, easily 6ft tall and 9ft wide. 

Political memorabilia that was displayed in the gift shop of the Statehouse. 

I even got a selfie with President Obama in the gift shop! 

The small yet impressive Senate Chamber.

The House of Representatives Chamber which was astounding because it held so many seats along with portraits of famous politics figures on the front wall. 

A portrait of Josiah Bartlett who signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776 hangs in the Executive Room on the second floor. 

A variety of pictures from the front of the Statehouse including one with my friend Jenny.