- BIG NEWS:
- Health Care
- |
- Sarah Palin
- |
- Barack Obama
- |
- GOP
- |
GENERATION NOBAMA: Wildly Overbooked Campaign Event Leaves Barack Pack Out on the Street
Despite being slightly underwhelmed by my last encounter with Barack Obama, upon receiving an Aug 13th email inviting me to "Join Barack Obama in Brooklyn" on August 22, I was more than happy to shell out 25 dollars for a second chance to see and hear the Senator in person. Twenty-five dollars is pocket-change, after all, when it comes to getting in the same room as a presidential candidate — particularly one who has recently graced the cover of GQ and inspired the kind of YouTube coverage that Hillary Clinton (or anyone else, for that matter) can only dream of. So it wasn't all that surprising when I received another email this past Monday reminding me of my rendezvous with the Senator and alerting me to the fact that this event had sold out.
Did it ever.
The event ran from 5:30 - 7 p.m., said the email, and doors would open at five. Assuming from the last time that the Senator wouldn't go on till at least 6:30-ish, I arrived just before six to discover that the line-up to get in stretched back two long blocks. To the naked eye it looked as though upwards of five hundred people were lined up on the sidewalk and I assumed from this that the event had been delayed and the doors were yet to open.
Alas, this was not the case, as I soon discovered when a young volunteer began making her way down the long line to inform the waiting masses that the event had been overbooked. She was Jenny Yeager, the New York Finance Director for Obama'08, and she informed us that the hotel had closed the room because it had reached fire-code capacity.
Certainly if this had been a general admission event one might expect to be shut out, but we had all bought tickets in advance!
When I asked how an event that had pre-sold tickets could be so over-booked I was given a variety of possible reasons: People had brought their aunts and uncles with them unannounced, local politicians may have invited their friends along, event locales sometimes used larger stages than planned, resulting in limited space. Certainly all reasonable excuses, though it was clear that most of the mainly volunteer staff had also been taken aback and didn't actually know. It must be said, however, that considering the crowd waiting outside was at least a quarter of the capacity of the main room, it was fairly clear that the root of the problem went beyond hangers-on and plus-ones.
Later, campaign spokesman Bill Burton did respond to my request for clarification, emailing to say that: "Due to the overwhelming grassroots support for Senator Obama, we simply couldn't accommodate everyone interested in attending," and that the campaign was "going to contact everyone affected and make sure they can make it into an upcoming event at no charge." What he did not speak to, however, was how a pre- ticketed event could so wildly exceed expectations.
At any rate, the campaign was as accommodating as they could be given the situation; clip boards were handed out and people were asked to sign their names and email addresses and informed that they could either choose to receive a refund or be put on the list for the next (yet to be confirmed) New York Barack event. Strangely, despite the large crowd and the long-ish wait, no one seemed terribly upset. I did overhear one woman lament that she could have been doing her laundry, but that was about it.
(Perhaps this patient nature was the result of the unusually cool weather in New York - one wonders if tempers might have been shorter if that same crowd had been required to wait outside in the usual August heat. A small upshot of global warming, perhaps? Who knows. However, as a point of environmental interest, the Obama campaign business cards are printed with soy ink on recycled paper.)
So: Are their any conclusions to be drawn from my second night with Obama? If this were a second date, I'd be hard-pressed to commit to a third (not without a bit of song and dance that is, or at least some good chocolate). However, GQ and Men's Vogue covers aside, Obama is not dating material. He's a presidential candidate, and an admittedly once-in-a-generation one at that. There's no question that many, many people want very badly for him to be the person they hope he is — dangerous position to be in perhaps. Much of the post-debate(s) talk thus far has been how Hillary is performing above her low expectations and high negatives. Obama, on the other hand has of late been chipped away at by many who have their eye trained on him: a slow and steady taking down, most recently by Ryan Lizza in GQ, who strips away some of Obama's dignified veneer, and then again at the beginning of Sunday's Debate when George "Let's Start A Catfight" Stephanopoulos led with the question, "Is Barack Obama ready to be president, experienced enough to be president?" and then let all the other candidates have a go at the junior Senator from Illinois.
What does this have to do with a badly organized fundraiser in New York? Maybe nothing, but my main complaint about the last Obama event I attended in June (that one cost $100 and wasn't near full to capacity) was how widely the Senator missed the mark in terms of his audience (such an easy target, I said at the time, "that a blind man would have had trouble missing it"). Just this week Chuck Todd at MSNBC noted how, during an exchange with Hillary, Obama showed his colors as an inexperienced campaigner at last Sunday's debate.
Getting a candidate (any candidate, mind you, not just relatively inexperienced ones) through a presidential campaign is, as everyone knows, no easy feat -- made immeasurably more difficult by a season(s) that has started as obnoxiously early as this one. Tonight's rather large misstep in terms of crowd expectation and basic organization may just be an example of growing pains in a campaign that is still learning the ropes — or, it may be a sign of stress fractures in structure not fully prepared to go the distance. Enough of those in the foundation can knock a candidate off his pedestal just as thoroughly as more spectacular swipes and missteps.
All that said, when I filled out my name and email on the clipboard handed me tonight by a resolutely chipper volunteer, I specified that I was interested in attending the next event in lieu of a refund. It remains to be seen whether my third attempt with Obama will prove to be a trend, or a charm.
Follow Glynnis MacNicol on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mediaite
Loading comments…
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
HA!
I know many a theatre production that would DIE to have an "overbooked" event......
I would suggest the COMP TICKET FRENZY undid the whole process...just like it does in ANY event that's to die for to attend.
Blame the insiders. Don't blame the staff.
His point's clear, people. He's frustrated because a pre-ticketed event knows how many people it can fit. So either A) They overbooked on purpose to show lines and his popularity (how a company like Sony would release fewer Playstations so people are forced to wait in line at stores creating fake hype and advertising but frustrating fans) or B) Those who are running something so simple for Obama can't get it right. Considering he can't even be clear about his message to those who are in love with him, as the writer of this article states, it's just a reflection of the stupidity that might be surrounding Obama and his campaign.
They're definitely valid points, and the article was pretty straight forward. Not sure how so many of you missed it.
While there are significant disappointed Americans that would like to see Obama, the fact that it was over subscribed tells us just how popular he is with the public.
"There's no question that many, many people want very badly for him to be the person they hope he is —"
--------------------
I had high hopes for Obama, as the junior senator from Illinois, my home state. His exhilarating key note convention speech, his exciting candidate announcement speech left us calling for more. What we have gotten as a candidate has been much less than expected -- his debate performances are almost inept. Even on "The Daily Show" last night he had trouble finishing sentences and seemed uncomfortable, and that's with Stewart almost drooling on him.
Obama is really going to have to pull it together to make a "run of it" from here on out.
You'd have trouble also if you were giving speeches and interviews all day, everyday; coupled with the fact that everything you say is twisted, contorted or misconstrued bt the media to create controversy.
You're absolutely right, RusStyles, but that's what life as president will be like too. Don't get me wrong, I am proselytizing in the name of Obama to everyone I know and some I don't. However, they have got to learn to handle the contortions and the attacks if they're going to face the republican machine. You don't think Rove is leaving to spend more time with family after all, right?
He thinks while he's speaking. The others spout out memorized soundbites.
I think most folks actually do recognize that kind of authencity when they see it.
It's only the Beltway folks who admire memorized pap.
you know, i watched the interview after reading your post and thought it went very well. If by "he had trouble finishing his sentences" you mean Steward sometimes would talk over him and finish the point himself, well Jon does that all the time with every guest on the show.
I think is interesting that your main concern lies on the form and not the content of what he says. I undestand that after the Convention and annoucement speeches one would like to feel moved and inspired everytime he speaks. It is after all a nice sensation but there has to be more than that. If I may, I 'd like to suggest you watch in youtube his interview on abc's "this week". He explains why it is intentional that he doens't bring people to tears in every single speech.
I desagree with you on his debate performances. I don't think "inept" is a word that applies to any of the candidates performances. At least not yet.
My sister went to one of these events in Minnesota, and had no problem. I went to one in Chicago, and had no problem. I went to one with Michelle Obama and had no problem. It's NYC..you have more of everything there.
Edwards has been running for President since the 2004 campaign.
Hillary has been running from the moment she announced for Senate.
Obama announced in February, and you're not willing to cut him some slack because there were too many people interested?
Come on.
glad they were great events- my minnesota report was from 2000. putting people out who have shown interest in you isn't the worst thing at all- but it's not a good thing. waiting in line is routine in new york. a lot of talk about "rock star" obama... this is a downside. i think voters skew too old for that now. for instance, if new yorkers read that he had obama girls peeling grapes on his private plane- new yorkers would like that. but not anybody else.
you have an extremely and incorrectly skewed view of new yorkers amigo.
first of all, the only people who wait in line are tourists and those who of us who need to go to the INS for various reasons...and oh yeah, those of us who want to be one of the 1st to get close to the 'next big thing' like the iphone and senor obama.
secondly, we can peel our own grapes thank you very much.
read obama's speech before the illegal iraq invasion and then read hillary's and decide who you want running this country.
hillary more of the same imperialism and submitting to corporate lobbyists.
but then she stated that all that lobbyists money will not influence her votes.
and I have this bridge for sale cheap needs some work but then many of our bridges do.
glynnis- your instincts may be right that after the hysteria, obama's campaign- and maybe obama himself- couldn't step up to the hillary or w levels of coordination and message. not in any fatal or disfunctional way- just new territory and failure to anticipate. there's another thing you look at when surprised by a 2 block club line. you think "well, i guess half of it's comp'd and VIP'd anyway and everybody like me will be standing in back." that's something you don't want to be thinking about a candidate event. i knew my state was ready to go republican when the republicans held a nice outdoor picnic with plenty for all; and the democrats (in hubert humphrey's old district-one of the bluest in the nation) scheduled an open meeting in a classroom with forty chairs. they got the big wheels (ie, feminists) in an hour earlier than the announced time and shut the doors on about 800 people . 800 stood there instead of leaving. maybe 1500 people wanted to be there. also stiffed by gore who tied up traffic for hours with his black suv motorcade- he showed up three hours late so planned traffic management collapsed. then he stiffs maybe 5000 STILL WAITING (crowd could have been 25,000) to split for a hotel bash with big donors. arrogance is the liberal achilles heel and hillary has lots of it. it is very contagious. for a great many involved- these events were their first political experiences. that's how you get a republican gov and sen in humphrey & mondale's state.
I'd rather have a good candidate than a "good campaigner".
The sad truth is, good campaigners will beat good candidates who are not good campaigners regularly. What we need is someone who is both.
C'mon, you live in NYC! You think buying a ticket in advance means you will get admission to an event? Heck, the last couple clubs I went to see a band at (with paid ticket in hand) had lines two blocks long, an hour before the show. Do you really need to press the flesh with Barack to make it a good night out? At least you were surrounded by people who share your view (I would hope) that there is at least one politician who is not an utter sleaze. Enjoy the moment and get to the next event early!
Get a VIP backstage pass for $1,000 to see Obama, $5,000 to say hi!
the $25 ticket is just PR. It lets you stand in line outside.
So the fact that you couldn't get in to a $25 event to hear and see Sen. Obama bothers you? Or is it the fact that a $100 event wasn't sold out that pisses you off? Or... are you just expecting to see all the polish and spin of Democratic campaigns of yore (or worse, the p&s of Republican campaigns of forever) out of a guy who, it seems to me, wants to let the $25 people have a real say, a real impact, a real hope in their future. 'Cuz really, there's not a lot of p&s to be found in $25, not even hundreds and hundreds of twenty-five "dollarses".
You may remember a more reasoned and moderate John McCain campaign that started out with rough edges, but then he listened to the pundits and polishers who said whatever garbage they spewed that turned his heartfelt campaign into... a disaster.
I would never have supported John McCain as president - not after he sucked up to W - but I always admired him as a person and a senator. Until he became (or tried to become) a Politician.
Don't wish that on Sen. Obama, please. Let the roughhewn edges, the prickly mistakes, the honesty & integrity & enthusiasm of the $25 volunteers and supporters show through.
We have been fooled so many times to believe the spin and polish of smoothly run campaigns, campaigns that were for hollow men who didn't know how to be leaders, and certainly weren't interested in $25 voters. I think maybe, possibly, hopefully, we're all a little smarter now, and we'll take our next president campaign boo-boos for what they are - nothing serious at all.
Because President Obama is always going to care about the $25 voter.
Let the church say AMEN!!
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/355757/barack_obama_increases_grassroots_campaigning.html
This is one reason you couldn't get in--Obama just has too damn many grassroots supporters! Damn those pesky Americans who want to get involved in their government and bring about big change in Washington.
Amen!!!
I agree Cricketgirl. There's something refreshing about an overwhelming attendance that can't be handled...or lacking the muscle to make the hotel/local govt ignore their capacity regulations. And what a contrast to the revelations of the GWB events...the "playbook against protesters" that we saw here on HuffPo. I'd rather some overbooking related to enthusiasm than strong arms that are so controlled they can eliminate dissent and the reporting of it. Also, isn't the REAL story here that unlike the media keeps telling us, Barak does appeal to the less privileged/educated and they are by far NOT all voting for Hillary. Otherwise, the attendance at a $25 event would have been the same as a $100!
Why not festival seating, Obama is a rock star.
Ms. Macnicol. You made this point: "Just this week Chuck Todd at MSNBC noted how, during an exchange with Hillary, Obama showed his colors as an inexperienced campaigner at last Sunday's debate."
Actually, Mark Halperin from TIME.com (like most political pundits) gave Obama high makes. Mark Halperin, for instance, actually scored Obama higher than Hillary. His observations were dead on. Check here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3460515.
Also, you referenced the recent GQ article on Obama. I would advise you to peruse it again. The article made this point:
“Even on the much hyped question of experience, Clinton, Edwards, and Obama are roughly equal, each having no more than a decade of legislative experience and no executive experience. Given the historic opportunity of an electorate desperate for change and disinclined to elect another Republican president, the Democratic contest is really about who will be the most transformational president. Obama’s case is that to change anything in America, we have to begin by changing our politics, and he offers the kind of campaign he’s running as evidence that he means it”.
And, I want you to search your memory. Remember back in 1992, when BILL CLINTON, having never run for president before, was called an "inexperienced campaigner"? Remember what he said? He said:
"I believe experience counts, but it's not everything. Values, judgment and my record...also should count for something...we have to change this country...insanity [is] just doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result...We have got to have the courage to change...We need a new approach. The same old experience is not relevant...And you can have the right kind of experience and the wrong kind of experience..."
Using the BILL CLINTON MODEL (which Hillary seems unaware of), I have determined that Obama is ready to be president.
I just can't believe you are fussing about not being able to get into an event filled with disaffected (and hopeful) grassroots supporters.
Go Barack!!!
you know what, i got in thanks to a friend who ponied up 50 bones for 2 tickets and our uncharacteristic ontime arrival.
and i really made a sincere attempt to keep my mind open and hear very carefully what he had to say, especially after being impressed by the racial and economic diversity of the crowd, even for brooklyn.
and if he had won me even halfway over, i was willing to match my friend's contribution in kind.
and yeah, he hit all the right notes and got people riled up, talked about how he did this for the people and he did that for the people and he had some good anecdotes, and pushed the right liberal buttons.
and he really is magnetic, very similar to the way bill clinton was back in 94. he's actually more like bill than hillary.
and for a second there, i really was pulled in, for i would really like to like him, for he could represent the future of america in all of its multiracial diversity and latent compassion.
but you know what he didn't say? (and i was indeed listening very closely for this)
he didn't say thank you for donating that $25 to his campaign to attend what amounted to a high school pep rally to simply encourage all those in the room to donate more time and more $ to help elect HIM.
until he does that, he will not have a dime or a vote from this citizen.
like he said in the beginning,
it's just the same ol' same ol'
MEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEME
instead, i told my friend i was going to donate $50 to mike gravel. and i'm willing to bet another $50 to the obama campaign that at least mr. gravel remembers to say thank you.
l.blisset,
I ponied up the money for a few tickets, and found myself on the sidewalk with the people I'd brought along -- including one uncommitted friend who'd made the $25 investment herself. I've been backing Barack since January, before he had a campaign. But I think you have great ears. What you DIDN'T hear in that room really matters.
I was so unhappy with the way that the campaign handled the overbooking, that I first wrote to them, then called them. They seem to be completely tone deaf to what $25 represents.
The event seemed designed to say, "we recognize and value small donors -- ALL the people matter to us." It's really unfortunate that they undermined their own gesture by treating small donors this way, then refusing to acknowledge it.
It strikes me as significant that Barack himself forgot to thank the room in his remarks. I'm confident that a $1000 per head room would have received proper recognition.
The ethos of his campaign, or what it's supposed to represent, is not one of neglecting people of limited means. I believe that he knows the value of a dollar -- he's had enough life experience to recognize that, whatever his current circumstances.
The sort of discourtesy that you caught represents a campaign-as-usual drift from his values. As a supporter, I feel that it's urgent that this drift be stopped, and every campaign worker, volunteer, and supporter understand that.
I'm also just grateful to you for taking the time to raise the point, especially because your money is going straight to Mike Gravel. I understand your decision, and think the Obama campaign needs to realize that even in NYC, every vote matters.
We (I'll still line up with Barack for now) lost an opportunity to connect with you, probably lost my friend's vote, and jeopardized one 16-year-old's excitement about casting his first vote in 2008. The money matters and the attitude matters, because they are ways to demonstrate respect for all people.
I am not sure what you are trying to say. You have so many points but there is a lot of incoherence. You acknowledge Obama's popularity and seem to want to be part of it but at the same time you want to amplify little nuances as major deficits like the corporate media does(sorry, I don't address them as MSM).
So, Glynnis
Your first hunch is right; Barack is a terrific candidate and he continues to do better every day in the eye of the electorate. To me it looks like the pundits are watching a different show because they are totally out of sync with how the voters are receiving the candidates.
Trust your intuition. Stay with Barack.
The truly authentic candidate, able to go the distance, and who will rise above the media hype is John Edwards. "Hillobama" will burn itself out as her disingenuous nature becomes clear to everyday Americans (Corporatist), and as Obama's inexperience referred to here, becomes clear.
The Real Deal RFK/JFK is John Edwards! No matter how long and hard the MSM propagandists want to spin it. The GOP's worst nightmare is... John Edwards. America and the world does not have the backup to take any chances this time.
This is a long distance event and the public has already seen through the "Voice of Corporate America." America is becoming more nauseated by the moment w/ Hillary and Obama. Relief will only arrive when John Edwards is our nominee! J R
The Edwards campaign rhetoric is "in its last throes!" bawahhaha
so, Obama is to be chastised for NOT being a "polished" politican, inexperienced in parsed candidacy chatterings...but then, many take that as a PLUS for when we listen up to such as Hillary to talk and talk and talk and still end up with fluffed "nothingness" in reality for she never does quite state a firm position and only offers vague whateverings that can be contrued one way or another and ...well perhaps ya' get the drift and perhaps CAN see how Obamas "inexperienced/UNseasonedness of long term DC enviroment" kinda appeals to many who are more than willing to give him a chance for at the very least, he IS educated, articulate and has shown some good judgements and has had a broad life of experiences to draw upon as well to assist the nation in healing at home and globally as well as he represents innate "diversity" which IS primetime appealling (globally !!!)
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
