Reporting from Easley Watch Party In Easley, South Carolina

Veola Carter reported on a McCain Watch Party held in Easley, South Carolina. Veola is an Obama supporter and fellow, and hosted the small party for "undecideds" and Independents. Her report was filed in response to the latest OffTheBus Special Ops assignment requesting members to report on Palin Watch Parties.

QUESTION: Approximately how many people are there? How many are focused on the speech?
ANSWER: There were 12 people at the Watch-Party. All of them, except for two people, were completely focused on the speech. The two people who showed less interest, gave an observer a sense of the 'here we go again with the Bush-a-nomics' kind of reaction.

QUESTION: How does the crowd react to McCain's speech?
ANSWER:The crowd sat in 'awe' as McCain spoke. Most of them were shaking their heads and making negative remarks aloud. The others appeared to be 'hypnotized,' as if they were afraid to blink an eye (in fear of missing a crucial lie, word or sentence).

QUESTION: Are there certain aspects of the speech that resonate most?
ANSWER: Yes! McCain's speech was a repetition of several key factors. (1) His military experience, battle wounds, sacrifice for his country as a POW and fighting to defend ourselves as Americans (as we've done in the past and must continue to do in the future); (2) The love that he obtained for his country, while he was a POW; (3) The battle wounds that Obama, DOES NOT have, from defending our country; (4) We must begin providing 'service' to improve our country, by beginning with 'ourselves.'

QUESTION: Are there parts of the speech that upset people?
ANSWER: Yes! McCain's, never-ending, reference to Vietnam War and Obama's lack of military experience;

QUESTION: What is the crowd like? What is the age, political party, gender and racial breakdown?
ANSWER: The crowd was made up of people from the 'Baby Boomer' generation, senior citizens, to a couple of Korean War Veterans. Their ages ranged from 55-80 yrs old. The political party affiliations were: Independent, Conservative, Democrat (former Sen. Hillary R. Clinton) supporters and the Green Party. The gender breakdown was 80% female and 20% male. The racial breakdown was 85% European-American, 10% African-American, 3% Hispanic and 2% Asian.

QUESTION: What do people say about McCain before his speech?
ANSWER: The biggest majority of the crowd thought, that McCain would just sound like a recorded copy of a George W. Bush speech, with the exception of , the repeated remarks about his Vietnam War experiences.

QUESTION: Does McCain's speech influence their opinions of him?
ANSWER: No! Everyone in the crowd made it known, that McCain's speech only 'solidified' their decision to not vote Republican.

QUESTION: Do the men and women in the audience react differently to McCain?
ANSWER: Yes! Most of the women were displaying signs of 'empathy,' as McCain spoke about his days as a POW. Some of the men (the Korean War Veterans) were also affected by this topic, but eventually, became obviously weary of it. The expressions on their faces and comments such as..."He must think, that he's the only POW in the country!"

QUESTION: Do the younger and older members of the audience react differently to McCain?
ANSWER: Yes. The only real difference that I noticed, was during McCain's POW story. The Korean War Veterans were absorbed by the POW story, in the beginning, but then became overwhelmed by it.

QUESTION: What are people talking about before and after speech? Are they interested in particular issues?
ANSWER:Before the speech--- The crowd was discussing, whether or not, McCain would take the time and initiative to explain his policies on health care, taxes, education, the Iraq War troop withdrawal controversy and Roe vs Wade. After the speech---They were not surprised, that he did not spend any time or very little time, on some of these issues.

QUESTION: Do people think McCain made a good choice in picking Palin? What do they think this says about McCain?
ANSWER: No! In regards to McCain's choice in picking Palin--- The general consensus is... that he has made a 'critical political' misjudgment. They think that his age and the fact that he was 'backed into a corner' in his attempt to choose a VP that would make him an 'unprecedented' GOP Presidential Candidate---forced him to make this desperate 'political misjudgment.' Definitively, everyone agreed, that McCain is only focused and concerned on and with McCain and not OUR country! Apparently, he believes that his time here on earth is infinite.

QUESTION: Do they consider McCain a "maverick"?
ANSWER: No. If George W. Bush were ever 'cloned' (God-forbid) John McCain would be the final result. A maverick is an 'independent' decision maker. We already know how many 'independent' decisions McCain has made on his own. Voting WITH Bush 90% of the time, says it all.

QUESTION: For supporters, why do they support McCain? Is it because of his policies or personality/life story or something else?
ANSWER: I did not have any McCain supporters at my Watch-Party. I'll give you my thoughts, on this question. There are voters in this country, who are just not prepared psychologically, traditionally or racially for a Black President (male or female). Therefore, to prevent the chance of this occurring, these voters will vote, literally, for 'anything' other than a Black or most minorities. It's an unfortunate reality, but true! In the matter of those, sincere, supporters---They are, most likely, attracted to his policies, his personality/life story and assets that the rest of us don't see or know about!

QUESTION: Do they (supporters) like McCain more now (since running for president) or more pre-campaign?
ANSWER: I believe, (to his supporters) John McCain's approval rating has soared, since, he decided to run for President. Before the campaign, he was liked but some, misunderstood by many and disliked by a few.

Comments

[dmoriarty]

Um... time for some serious fact-checking, here:

"There were 12 people at the Watch-Party."

"The gender breakdown was 80% female and 20% male. The racial breakdown was 85% European-American, 10% African-American, 3% Hispanic and 2% Asian."

One (whole) person would be 8.5% of 12 people.

What gives?

(I'm an Obama supporter, myself. But I hold *us* to a higher standard than the liars on the other side. Or at least, I'd certainly like to.)

[DoTheMath]

This helps to explain why the TV ratings for McCain's speech were so high. Along with Republican supporters, people with no intention of supporting him watched to see what kinds of lies he might spread. "Know thine enemy." Thanks for watching, folks. I was afraid I'd break my TV or at least my husband's ear drums.