...
... 
I arrived at the Bushnell and met Nutmeg and her handsome Husband Zelig, and we entered on time. Unfortunately, I could not bring in the video camera, so I will have to rely on memory for this one: it was just too dark to take notes!
The format was a question and answer and response discussion, with Steve Roberts the moderator; Cokie Roberts' husband.
It startd off with a question to Ann on what she would least lke to talk about or reveal about herself.
She deflected the question to Al, and he went into some slow, deep discussion that led to some talk about his mom who recently passed away, Paul Wellstone and the funeral, and whatever came to his mind!
It was some sort of a self confession of sorts, he droned on, I remarked it was like a 12 step meeting.
As the debate moved on, one tactic Franken used a lot was to interrupt Ann often. Also, the crowd was quite negative against Ann in the orchestra seats, while the 3 of us Freepers in the balcony were quite defending of Annie!
In general, because I didn't write it down much, I saw how the cameras that showed each speaker when they spoke, favored Franken completely.
When Franken spoke, the camera was always on him, but when Ann spoke, it flashed to Franken often while she spoke, and then the crowd would react to his facial expressions and shout down Ann's answers.
Franken did make some intelligent points in his speech, but they were the repetitions of the typical liberal speech. I wished I could have given Ann some points on some things like Franken repeating the lie that this war was won on Clinton's War machjine, but, I was in the balcony, not the front row.
Franken contradicted himself a few times, quite obviously, in that he said more troops should have been used to fight the Iraq war, yet he was against the war itself.
Due to the abuse the lower seats gave Ann, I have o give the debate to Frranken, though, not because he earned it, he did do well, but he did not earn it, Ann lost it to the crowd which came in against her heavily. She stood her ground mightily, but the use of the camera showing Franken's face when she spoke, the crowd shouting her down when she tried to give details to her answers, Franken quoting single sentences from her book that the crowd would not let her explain in detail with any respect, that is what lost it for her, not her answers or efforts.
Franken was funny at times, I have to admit, and he warmed up to the audience quite well.
Ann was in hostile territory all night, though, and not allowed to fight her fight. Franken cut her off many times, the camera mocking her, the hostile crowd...