When Bill Clinton won't shutup
I have listened to Bill Clinton speak, in person, twice in my life.
The first time was during my commencement at Syracuse. I remember enjoying that speech. The second time was Saturday night at Virginia Tech. I did not enjoy that speech - not because of anything the former President said, but for how he managed to nearly destroy my entire night.
Bill was in Blacksburg speaking on behalf of his wife. I was there to cover the event for my TV station. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the first 45 minutes or so of the speech. He's probably one of the greatest public speakers of our time and I hung on every word he was saying. It wasn't until I realized that I was probably going to miss my 11:00 deadline for getting a story on the air that I started to really get frustrated. For the record, I did end up getting my story on the air at 11, but don't ask me how I did it. The accomplishment was certainly no thanks to the Clinton campaign, who kept the media trapped in a pin like a group of farm animals. While everyone else was allowed to leave the gym after Clinton's speech, they insisted that we stay behind a gate until everyone else left. God forbid the media vultures bother the Hillary supporters. It's not like we're there to help promote the campaign or anything.
Speaking of Hillary, she managed to screw me over on a story today, but I was actually kind of glad it happened because I didn't want another last-minute story debacle. She was supposed to be in Roanoke for a rally at one of the high schools, but a combination of bad weather and brush fires prevented her plane from landing at our airport. So my story was about, what else, Hillary's pissed off supporters. Last night when we could have given them positive press, they worked against us. Today - when the press could actually hurt the campaign - they had no problem letting us talk to them. Brilliant group of people they are.
The first time was during my commencement at Syracuse. I remember enjoying that speech. The second time was Saturday night at Virginia Tech. I did not enjoy that speech - not because of anything the former President said, but for how he managed to nearly destroy my entire night.
Bill was in Blacksburg speaking on behalf of his wife. I was there to cover the event for my TV station. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the first 45 minutes or so of the speech. He's probably one of the greatest public speakers of our time and I hung on every word he was saying. It wasn't until I realized that I was probably going to miss my 11:00 deadline for getting a story on the air that I started to really get frustrated. For the record, I did end up getting my story on the air at 11, but don't ask me how I did it. The accomplishment was certainly no thanks to the Clinton campaign, who kept the media trapped in a pin like a group of farm animals. While everyone else was allowed to leave the gym after Clinton's speech, they insisted that we stay behind a gate until everyone else left. God forbid the media vultures bother the Hillary supporters. It's not like we're there to help promote the campaign or anything.
Speaking of Hillary, she managed to screw me over on a story today, but I was actually kind of glad it happened because I didn't want another last-minute story debacle. She was supposed to be in Roanoke for a rally at one of the high schools, but a combination of bad weather and brush fires prevented her plane from landing at our airport. So my story was about, what else, Hillary's pissed off supporters. Last night when we could have given them positive press, they worked against us. Today - when the press could actually hurt the campaign - they had no problem letting us talk to them. Brilliant group of people they are.