Obama Pool Report from Wednesday

POOL REPORT—Hardball College Tour

04.02.08, West Chester University, West Chester, Pa.

No news was made when the cameras were off. Obama was booed for something he said that the crowd didn't like about the Philadelphia Eagles during a commercial break.

The West Chester University band, clad in sharp purple, white and gold uniforms, warmed up the crowd playing the “hey song” and other pump-up favorites, along with the mascot for the Golden Rams, “Rammy.” The crowd chanted “O-ba-ma” and did the wave as show time drew closer, banging together the red and blue “Hardball” thundersticks that had been distributed to the audience. A few band members tried to start a cheer of “U-S-A” but were quickly drowned out by more “O-ba-ma.”

Chris Matthews came out and told the crowd about upcoming Hardball college tours, including Villanova in two weeks. “We got John McCain,” Matthews said to boos. “And if the Clinton campaign gets its act together,” and he trailed off to even louder boos.

Commercial break #1: Obama shook hands with everyone on stage. He was miked so everyone could hear him say exchange pleasantries. “Oh, everybody can still hear?” he said when someone told him his microphone was on. As a show assistant applied makeup to Obama, Chris Matthews instructed the students who were about to ask questions to keep them short. “No written manifestos,” he said.

CB #2: Seated the whole time. Called out, “Where's Chris Matthews' daughter?”

CB #3: Posed with pictures for groups of students on stage. After he sat down, he thumbed through the Philadelphia sports mag. He made a remark about the Philadelphia Eagles that the crowd didn't like and he was booed. He tried to recover by complimenting quarterback Donovan McNabb.

CB #4: More group pictures on stage.

Didn't say anything after it ended, but did some ropeline.

Nick Timiraos
The Wall Street Journal