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Blogging the Miami Debate - Thursday PM Update

By Jeralyn, Section Elections
Posted on Thu Sep 30, 2004 at 04:20:32 PM EST
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Update: ..first, I'd like to give a big shout-out to my new buddy Tyler who emailed me a week ago asking if I could use some photos on Talkleft for the Miami Debate. I said yes, and he was as good as word, starting out each day looking for behind the scenes goings on. When he'd find them he would email me the picutures and a little story. Just a delight to work with. He got us more pictures pictures and comments after the debate. Thanks, Tyler! They follow his next description:

First, here's Tyler

Wow....what a day. It's 1:30 AM and I just got back from all the festivities. Campus was absolutey crazy all day today. I attended Hardball on MSNBC up to the time of the debate. If you caught any of it, I was standing in the crowd behind Chris Mathews when they had the camera on him and I was wearing my fraternity letters (Sigma Phi Epsilon) and was holding the sign that said "got WMD?". After the debate there was a concert with Jill Scott and Vanessa Carlton, who are both amazingly talented people.

After the concert it was back to the MSNBC stage for post-debate wrap-up and analysis. Let me just say that Kerry really stuck it to Bush tonight. Bush didn't look like he was enjoying himself and kept repeating everything. Kerry was on point and was very poised the entire debate. Bush came out strong but just seemed to lose it after about the first half hour, after that it was all Kerry.

All in all, it was an event I'll never forget; something I can tell my children about one day. How many people will be able to say that they hosted a presidential debate on their college campus? Well, it's about time for me to pass out now. Talk to you tomorrow, and I'll add to the comments tomorrow morning.

Tyler's Thursday Night Pictures are here.

Update: 3pm ET:
Thursday morning pictures here.
Thursday afternoon pictures here.
Thursday late afternoon pictures here
[Click on each photo for larger version.]

Got some pictures from about 10:00 this morning til 2. Maybe about 100 people protesting Bush/supporting Kerry with about a dozen Bush supporters across the street. Some of the cops were d**ks when we crossed the street to the protest sight, trying to arrest us for jaywalking. Pretty good pictures, it was extremely hot though. I'm going to rest for a little while then it's back out to an anti-war rally at 6 PM tonight directly across campus at Stanford Dr and US 1.

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TalkLeft correspondent Tyler is reporting from the scene of his apartment, currently being searched by Secret Service, as part of the security preparations for tonight's debate. More pictures shortly.

It's 10:15 now...SS is starting to make a presence around the Convocation Center, my apartment area is completely barricaded, with no way into the area around the CC. Secret Service should be here in the next 15 minutes to search my apartment, I guess it's totally legal for them to do it. I'll be taking my lap top with me while they search so I can send you updates.

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Original Post 9/29/04 1:45 pm

Talkleft has its first on-scene correspondent reporting live from the Univeristy of Miami on the presidential debates. His name is Tyler, and he's a student at University of Miami. He lives on campus, right next to the convocation center where the debate is being held. He's protesting and will be forwarding us reports on the security, group meetings and more, with pictures and comments. His first photos are in, and you can view them here.

First, security. Because he lives so close to the debate hall, Secret Service will be coming tomorrow morning to search his apartment:

Secret Service will be searching my apartment and the apartments surrounding the Convocation Center on Thursday morning, so I have to wake up early so they can do their jobs; but with my paranoia I'm taking my lap top and all personal documents out of my room just because well, that's just me. Barricades and 10-foot tall fences have been erected around my apartment and the Convocation Center, it seriously feels like I'm caged in!

Today Tyler headed out to the Greenpeace Rally:

I'll be attending a Greenpeace rally today in Coral Gables that's expected to attract a lot of media attention. The purpose of the event is to get both Bush and Kerry to start talking about environmental issues, although we know Bush won't say anything because he's gutted pollution standards and allowed mercury levels in water to be higher.

Here are some events for tonight:

Moveon is having a meeting tonight in Miami Beach at 7PM at the Seville Hotel. Crossfire will be live from campus today at 4:30 and Hardball w/ Chris Mathews will be live from 7-8 pm and again at 9-11 pm.

Tyler ends his first installment with, "Things are really starting to heat up." Stay tuned.

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