Stage Left

Scenes from everywhere but inside the Democratic Presidential debate.


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Published: Oct 31, 2007

politics

Michael T. Regan

ALL SMILES: Edwards and Clinton, pre-debate.

(CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

They stood behind metal barriers and in front of the watchful eyes of dozens of police Civil Affairs officers. Separated by political affiliation, they staked their claims across the street from Drexel University's Main Building, which, for two Tuesday night hours, was the center of the opposition party's universe.

To the far left — ironically — were Hillary supporters chanting "Phil-ly for Hill-a-ry." Next to them was the John Edwards clan; a cluster of anti-casino activists; Obama torchbearers ("Oh-oh-oh Obama"); an extraordinarily large Joe Biden contingent ("Go, Joe, Go"); more Hillaryites; another Biden clique; a small Bill Richardson crew; several roaming Ron Paul revolutionaries; a few Colbert Nation residents; and a couple of guys who doctored signs to boost their "Vote for Lary" (sic) cause.

The MSNBC folks touted Tuesday's debate as the "Fight in Philly" — thanks to a Sunday's New York Times piece in which Obama intimated it was time to shift into attack-former-first-lady mode (why else would a press room across the street from the event itself be packed to its 240-work-station gills?) — but there was peace on this piece of "Candidate Visibility Area" earth. Trying to be heard over the cacophony of chants, they wouldn't be getting into the arena. So just being there had to mean something.

Two Obama cheerleaders, both from Bryn Mawr College, had the chants down, but struggled with the question: Why support him? "OK," said Courtney Malpass, a history major. "He really knows what he's talking about. He gets criticized because of his lack of experience, but trust me, he knows what's he's doing." While that remains to be seen — for a full transcript of a debate that did see Hillary verbally slapped around, go to www.citypaper.net/blogs/clog/2007/10/31/the-so-called-fight-in-philly) — these motivated constituents were left to wait for any semblance of attention. Sure, Gen. Wes Clark worked the Hillary crowd beforehand — asked for thoughts on the rumble angle, he launched an unrelated spiel about Hillary's grandeur — but just one candidate joined the people.

Pulling up in a minivan with Maryland plates 65 minutes before the cameras went live, John Edwards flashed his beaming smile and glad-handed for two minutes before hopping on the car's side rail, throwing a full-arm wave and jetting. If the crowd felt jilted, they didn't show it; they continued their good-sported chanting with no incident before dispersing to watch the action on television.

The same couldn't be said, however, for some Drexel students. Of the 800-some seats, an estimated 300 went to Dragons while the rest were filled with the likes of Gov. Ed Rendell, Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, restaurateur Stephen Starr and almost-Mayor Michael Nutter. This didn't sit well with junior Andrea Partridge, who, when she finished her biology class at noon, was among dozens of students quickly herded out of the Main Building so the Secret Service could get to work. The security sweeps were part of a monthlong process of securing the university buildings.

"In this whole planning process, the student body was alienated," said Partridge, hanging on Chestnut with several friends.

The seats inside the auditorium, said junior Chris Chidester, shouldn't have been reserved for politicos. "I think they were worried that we'd get up and cheer too much," he said.

But for all of her criticisms, Partridge was proud the debate was at her school, "because that means it's not at Penn."

Besides, by midnight, several of the candidates tried to connect. As candidates' proxies worked the so-called "Spin Room," student volunteers were piling out of the Mandell Theater when one of the emcees told them to stay put: The candidates were coming. Then, Obama, Richardson, Biden and Kucinich stopped by. Obama was welcomed by ear-splitting applause before imploring them to be involved; Richardson took on student-loan sharks; Kucinich compared his flip-flopping foes to ballerinas; and Biden, who has kids at Penn, noted that his three "children didn't go to Drexel because they weren't smart enough to get in."

Meanwhile, thanks to the debate's import, Nutter found himself in the unusual position of reminding people that he, too, had an upcoming election. Before heading off to a post-debate reception, he was asked whether he planned on making an endorsement and responded in quintessential Philly-politics style.

"Nope," he said. "Well, at least not for the next seven days."

(hickey@citypaper.net)