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Feb 28, 2008

Clinton's Cow Palace Moment




One of the most famous events from the tumultuous 1964 GOP nominating convention came when NBC's John Chancellor was surrounded on the floor by Goldwater backers and then taken away by a sergeant-at-arms. The convention itself featured delegates lustily booing members of the media.

Yesterday, in Ohio, the Clinton campaign (which, since falling behind Barack Obama, has started complaining about unfair treatment from the press) featured a similar movement. From the Times' Caucus Blog,

A man at a Clinton town-hall meeting here at a school gymnasium stood to say that it was a “no-brainer” that Mrs. Clinton should be president. He then turned toward the back of the gym where a penned-off area held perhaps 30 reporters and a half-dozen local and
network cameras. “You guys have been so unfair to this lady,” he declared. “I can’t believe you.”

With that, the crowd of more than 1,200 people roared with approval, many of them rising from their seats to hoot at the media and cheer the questioner. Many turned their cameras on the reporters.

Mrs. Clinton just soaked it all in. She sipped a glass of water. She smiled. And after the cheering stopped, she just moved on to the next question, no response needed.


After all, Hillary was once a Goldwater Girl.


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Oscar Chamberlain - 2/28/2008

I remember watching that convention on NBC. As Chancellor was being pulled off of the floor, he kept reporting, and then, as the Time article you linked confirms, he signed off, saying, "This is John Chancellor, somewhere in custody."

I thought that was both cool and hilarious, and from that moment on, I always liked John Chancellor, because I always remembered that professional, slightly amused, cool response.