A Frenzied Pace

While the dust settled on the debate floor and the bright T.V. lights dimmed, a crowded gymnasium next door sprung to life.

An estimated 350 members of the press corps swarmed a candidates entrance, necks craned and tape recorders extended in hopes of catching a shot or sound byte of the news-makers.

Spin doctors worked their way through the crowd, casting and recasting the debate in their candidates favor.

And outside of the gymnasium the pundits took to the air and wire.

Harvard made its most prominent appearance of the afternoon, on the Associated Press (AP), which quoted Institute of Politics Director and Clinton Cabinet Secretary Dan R. Glickman.

“Wesley Clark escaped the venom of the rest of the candidates,” Glickman told the AP. “I don’t know if they’re nervous about him or if his poll numbers are so high they’re afraid to attack him.”

Meanwhile, campus spin-doctors-in-training did their part.

Gregory A. Elinson ’04, co-president of Harvard Students for Howard Dean, said he wasn’t losing sleep over the threat Clark poses to his candidate.

“I actually think that Clark and Dean are pretty complimentary—there strengths are clearly separate,” Elinson said. “I think the fact that Kerry and Gephardt were attacking [Dean]cements his status as the man to beat.”

—Staff writer Stephen M. Marks can be reached at marks@fas.harvard.edu.