From the filming of CNN's Inside Politics at The Hanover Inn to satellite trucks lining College Street, it was clear yesterday that Dartmouth had entered the spotlight as hundreds of reporters from around the world descended on campus.
Eighteen satellite trucks from networks including CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN and Fox -- as well as wire and print media reporters -- came to campus for the town meeting.
Most reporters agreed that the forum was a crucial event in the pre-primary campaign season for both Bill Bradley and Al Gore.
"The first one is always the most important," Richard Sisk from the Washington bureau of the New York Daily News said. "In the subsequent debates, we will necessarily be looking at their responses both to questions and the audiences in light of what happened here. This will be the barometer for everything that follows."
So, what did the barometer measure at the town meeting last night?
The meeting was the first time when the two candidates shared the stage to answer voters' questions in the campaign up to this point.
Howard Fineman of Newsweek told The Dartmouth that the forum was useful to him, but it was only the first meeting of many on the long road leading to the 2000 election.
After he discussed the meeting with reporters from several other news organizations, he said, "They really agreed that Bradley seemed generally more comfortable and more presidential."
In a live CNBC television interview directly following the meeting, he told the nation that it seemed as though Gore was trying to cover a list of topics with his responses.
"With Gore you could see the gears grinding," he said.
JoAnne Gray from the Australian Financial Review said the meeting seemed very staged.
"Gore came across as very scripted and not relaxed with the environment," she said.
Claire Shipman of the Washington bureau of NBC called Gore "awkward" and said Bradley seemed more relaxed.
Sisk of the New York Daily News said Gore has been more aggressive in the past few weeks.
"I thought he attempted to take the edge off what he's been saying tonight as opposed to in the past weeks," he said.
He said in the debate last night, Gore was out of character in a negative way.
Fineman said since the two candidates have very similar political agendas, the race for the Democratic nomination is probably going to turn into a character race.
According to CBS White House corespondent John Roberts, the most interesting news going into the forum was that Gore is trailing in the most recent polls in New Hampshire and Iowa.
He said it is interesting that for seven years, Gore has been vice president and had the privilege of media coverage, but is now facing serious competition from Bradley's grass roots campaign.
"Either there is something really right with Bradley's campaign or something really wrong with Gore's," he said.
Cable News Network anchors Bernard Shaw and Judy Woodruff focused on the personality differences between Gore and Bradley during a live airing of Inside Politics, taped in the Hanover Inn instead of Washington D.C. yesterday from 5 to 6 p.m.
When asked, Gore spokesman Kiki Moore said the vice president prepared for the town meeting with experience. She said beforehand, Gore viewed the meeting as an opportunity to connect with people and that he knew his issues well.
Bradley's spokesman Eric Hauser said his candidate prepared casually for the forum and planned to be relaxed as he has been throughout his campaign. Bradley attempted to use a "no gimmicks" approach, Hauser said.
During WMUR moderator Karen Brown's interview on Inside Politics, she said that what the candidates said during the meeting could be crucial as voters formulate their impressions of the candidates.
"This is a very engaged electorate in this area," she said. "There's a certain energy. They are keenly aware in the area about issues."
She attributed some of this enthusiasm to Dartmouth students and the stimulated atmosphere on campus.
After the meeting, Shipman said the people at CNN who planned the event thought it went well and it seems that people generally like the town meeting format.
Her co-worker Dan Erlenborn said this was the biggest event so far in the 2000 presidential race since the Iowa Straw Poll this past summer.
"All the political reporters are here -- every satellite truck north of New York," he said.
