Whitnum - Himes debate today

Right now I'm at a hotel in Burlington, Vermont that has spotty internet access at best, so this is going to be a brief update. I was forced by my incessant need to earn a living to drive 300 miles immediately after the debate. So now I'm in a $79 hotel with shitty internet access that makes it necessary for me to save my work every, oh, twenty or so keystrokes.

Today was the long-awaited debate between candidates for the 4th CD Democratic nomination Jim Himes and Lee Whitnum. I was there, along with CTLP front pager Gabe Rosenberg, 4thStreetBlog blogger "Anderson Scooper", and Greenwich Time reporter Neil Vigdor.

I'll post more in-depth coverage in a day or so, but right now I'm stuck up here in Ben & Jerry country with little or no connectivity. After uploading the photos below, I'm already an hour into this stupid article.

Here's Himes' campaign manager Maura with Jim and his charming wife Mary right before the debate.

Lee Whitnum rolls in. Lee didn't arrive until about 20 minutes AFTER the scheduled start of the debate, so the entire thing didn't begin until it was almost 35 minutes late.

Settling in before the debate, Jim straightens his tie while Lee searches for a brush. It was weird watching their preparations from the green room with no audio. When the debate started, we weren't allowed in the studio and needed to watch the event remotely. Which made it fun, as we could make observations without fear of being overheard.

I'm sort of wondering what Neil Vigdor will report tomorrow, as it seemed every time I said something, he was scribbling away.

Nah, I'm only kidding. Neil seemed like a really nice guy, and I'm willing to believe he wouldn't betray our journalistic confidence. Us reporters need to stick together, you know.

Moments before the start. The moderator Tom something or other (if I had decent internet access, I'd be able to fact check this) (UPDATE: it was Tom Appleby) did a really good job keeping the debate moving, despite Lee's insistence on getting her complete agenda heard.

Immediately after the debate, Lee answers questions from Neil, "Anderson Scooper", and me. I asked about some assertions that Lee made, and she had some interesting theories about them. Video will be available soon.

That's what we call a "teaser" in the business. It'll get you to come back again until you get to see the video. Smart, huh?

OK, I've been working on this thing for the last 90 minutes. I don't even know if it'll post, so if it looks really fucked up, don't blame me.

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Broadcast schedule for this weekend on Cablevision News 12

Saturday
7:30 AM
11:00 AM
2:30 PM
7:30 PM

Sunday
2:30 AM
4:30 AM
11:00 AM
1:30 PM
5:30 PM

Monday
4:30AM