Word: formations
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...event on the newly constructed Palmer Street on Oct. 4. Over the course of four hours, audience members watched band Pants Yell!, sampled free appetizers from the Border Café, and, of course, watched 100 films. The catch? Each film was at most one minute in length. Although the format lent itself to films that were more experimental than the average movie, they proved to be fairly similar to what the audience was used to watching. After all, videos of this length are not entirely foreign; most YouTube clips are little more than one minute in length, and many movie...
Offense: Took some risks by hitting Obama for being liberal and for a range of other alleged offenses, but kept his tone appropriate for the format and avoided purely personal attacks. Occasionally stumbling over some of his sharper rehearsed lines, he muted their effectiveness. Didn't once fluster Obama, though he did lay down the foundation he needs to try to mount a comeback by sowing doubts about the Democrat. Pulled off his primary task more deftly than even his aides could have hoped...
...This was the "town hall" debate - a format that generated a jolt of energy when it was first tried in 1992, but which is now as rote as piano scales. Candidates for junior class president no doubt know the basics: how to get up from your chair and walk gently toward the questioner; how to call her by name - first name only! (because you can relate); how to personalize your answer and strike the appropriate "I hurt because you're hurting" tone...
...Format fatigue only helped Obama, because the town-hall-style debate doesn't feel dangerous anymore. No one is going to be caught checking his watch. No one will take the stage without memorizing the price of a gallon of milk and a gallon of gas. And because the campaigns ultimately set the rules, no audience member will be allowed to ask a question that hasn't been screened by some higher authority...
...once thought the town-hall format was his friend. John McCain began the general election by challenging Obama to a long series of loosely structured town-hall debates. Ultimately, he got just one. And it ended with the clock ticking down to the buzzer...