Why Norman Ornstein is a Fan of FORA.tv

The opportunity to be able to go at any point to the web and hear from people who can teach all of us about things that are going on, or make us think, is just invaluable. And FORA.tv is doing it in a way that nobody else is - Norman J. Ornstein




Thanks Norm!

Obamamania, to the Barracuda to the Mall of America: Two Weeks of Conventino Mayhem

Hours after I picked Trevar up at the Denver airport two weeks ago today we kicked off a two week conventioneering binge with Frank Foer and Eve Fairbanks of The New Republic at the Ritz Carlton (courtesy of the lovely and generous Vivian Deuschl, VP of Public Affairs for the RC and now a FORA favorite). Eve and Frank provided a rollicking preview of the days to come......

Then twelve days later, a mere hour before Trev's flight back to SF, we wrapped it up with the surprisingly terrifying Sponge Bob Square Pants roller coaster at the Mall of America in Minneapolis. For those of you that don't know - the M of A is apparently the world's biggest mall, big enough to house not one but two roller coasters.

Trev's post on the DNC gave a vivid glimpse of the energy in Denver. It has to be said that the Republican Convention didn't have the same electricity, at least initially. This is partly an effect of the awkwardness of having a convention in The Twin Cities with delegates and camp followers split bt Minneapolis and St Paul. With convention action being in St Paul while most of the people stayed in Minneapolis, the vibe just wasn't quite as strong.

That said: The seemingly out-of-nowhere Palin selection worked like Red Bull in the veins of the Convention attendees and gave it a fun energy. Had McCain gone with a more conventional pick it would have been a far less lively setting. While much could be said about our convention experience, I will summarize it simply by saying: huge learning, great fun, some real successes. Lots to build on moving forward.

And most importantly, Trevar and I concluded that we agree on at least three issues: robust animal rights should be supported in legistlation, torture is bad and yogurt is generally good.

Trevar Mazza and Stuart Schulzke at the RNC

Thanks to our intrepid travelers who brought FORA.tv a wealth of great moments and hours of video from both political conventions. A lot of experimentation, some learning (sometimes too much learning...) and the opportunity to get a backstage look at how politicos, journalists, bloggers, delegates and partygoers experienced the selection of the presidential and vice presidential candidates.

Here are two moments:

Trevar at the Rally for the Republic, recording the likes of Bruce Fein, Grover Norquist, Ron Paul and Jesse Ventura, a kind of counter convention to the RNC.

And Stuart fawning over Mitt Romney, who did some chivalry thing protecting his wife from the rain on the way into the hotel.

FORA at the Republic National Convention

Great first day at the Republican National Convention, with several events and a slew of interviews. Our return path to the FORA Studio in San Francisco hit a snag when the local FedEx office decided that they do not ship on Labor Day and our Internet connection did not send back our video files overnight. Stuart somehow got the entire Marriott organization mobilized to help us create a makeshift studio, with a free high speed path back to the mothership. I haven't seen an immediate response like that--from the hotel manager to the IT staff to the national PR official--in a long time. Thank you Marriott.

The buzz in the first day of shooting was on Sarah Palin. We have some very strong reactions including a great conversation, with the Times of London's Gerry Baker interviewing AEI's Norm Ornstein and Brookings' Thomas Mann. After a Huffington Post panel, I had the opportunity to interview a number of participants and attendees, including Arianna Huffington and Roy Sekoff (HuffPost editor), Time's Joe Klein, MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, Myka Brzezinski and Tucker Carlson, Left Right and Center's Tony Blankley, Slate's Mickey Kaus, and Byron York of the National Review.

We used the production camera for the interviews but will continue to experiment with the Flip Video cam. My favorite from the DNC was posted on FORA's front page last night. That will be an interesting editorial judgment over time--do you feature video shot on $100 cameras on a dark street corner when the content stands up? Here is my interview with one of the stars of the HBO series 'The Wire.' Wendell Pierce, who plays Bunk Moreland, is as eloquent in person as he is on camera. Wendell discusses his participation in David Simon's lates project on Katrina, his roots in New Orleans, and his view on the essential, mandatory role of a citizen in the political process.