It was really an interesting show. Took forever to get us in, I'm not sure what the hold-up was since we'd already been assigned seats and everything. Pretty good questions were asked although I wish there had been more time. (And that the two non-serious questions had been a little more pertinent since I'm still learning about his positions.) This truly is the still "get to know your canidates" stage for me since I'm embarrassingly far behind in that info.

He talked today about immigration laws (illegal and becoming legalized), the effects of his faith on his values but the necessity of seperation of church and state, the Iraq war, diplomacy, education - particularly in reference to No Child Left Behind, same-sex civil unions, export of waste, relations with Iran, and more. He was well-spoken and clearly had a sense of humor, although didn't over do it. His body language was also pretty impressive, now that I think back on it. I didn't really feel like I was sitting at some sort of lecture or in an overwhelmingly different environment. He was dressed reasonably casual, white button up shirt with the collar button undone, slacks, and a blazer. His gesticulations looked natural; he moved around easily and never seemed to be overtly startled when figuring out where the moderators were in the audience. He portrayed confidence without arrogance and I really think that helped set the mood as personable, and I appreciate that.

I also appreciated that he used mostly positive/affirmative language, discussing his opinions, views, and thoughts on taking action. He did not, I believe, overly use the attack response of targeting opponents as a rallying method. His focus was on himself and usually mentions of Hilary or Bush administration was more of a reference or comparison point to start his next explanation.

The websites do a nice coverage of the event. http://myspace.com/election2008  is the home base for the presidential dialogue series. I'm interested to see what other canidates will respond (John Edwards was the first).
The more directly applicable link is here: http://think.mtv.com/044FDFFFF0098989A00160098B090/ This includes 21 video clips right now that basically cover all the questions asked today.

Some personal notes about the article included on that link:

"Part of my job as president I think is to deliver a message that everybody is part of the American family" is probably one of my favorite quotes from today.

When the student who asked the question seemed unimpressed, Obama replied, "What more do you need, Mike?," before assuring him that students for whom English is a second language would not be penalized under his revised system.
-- I would not at all say that Mike was unimpressed. Rather, I believe he wanted to ask an extra part of the question, all of which I appreciated hearing about. Then again, Mike's just a cool guy like that. Apparently somewhere he's described as the "shaggy-haired freshmen," which we all laughed at during our Writing Center meeting tonight.

Coming more than 20 minutes into the forum, the latter received the first sustained applause of the afternoon.
Ack. Look, we're not used to this and it takes at least a few people noticing one another to start getting the clapping going. I tried at one point and it just didn't work. After this point, though, it was easier to get some clapping started up.

Obama faced perhaps the least expected question of the day from one of the reporters from the school's newspaper: Who would play him and his wife in a movie about his life?
Er, one of the questions I'd have prefered not being asked (in favor of something a little more helpful) and especially since it was from our newpaper (it's a little embarrassing given that this question, and who asked it, now goes out for the rest of the world to know). However, I did appreciate hearing and watching his response since these types of unusual questions still give insight into someone.

Oh, and I just noticed that the first video is the "Coe Countdown".... um, please, please, please realize that the girl does not have her priorities straight. (Geez, why the heck didn't they check in with someone else -- particularly someone not sitting next to a pissy looking secret service agent -- who might actually emphasize the importance of getting to meet face-to-face in a pretty intimate setting a presidential canidate? Sure, girl, just list MTV's visit first.... Oi vey.)

I believe that's all I have to say for now! It was a very interesting and exciting day. We're all miffed that it turns out we weren't allowed to bring our cameras in (as my friend said: "then they should have let us take pictures yesterday") so I have no pictures to share of inside the theatre. Probably later I'll be able to snag a few things from friends of outside and the "block party" setup on the quad.

Ta!
~Clarity