Thread by @dougblandry

Good morning and welcome to the first GOP presidential launch event of the cycle (not counting that...situation...at Mar-a-Lago)

I'm gonna keep all my *expert* & valuable commentary to this 🧵 so that I keep the follower loss to mere dozens

#NikkiHaley #NikkiHaley2024

Loading your crowd riser 45 mins before the speech is set to begin is a bad idea - sure, more time to pick out the very specifically diverse crowd (as they've done here) but way more time for those folks to get tired/lock their knees - they'll be worn out by stage time

They're gonna get there on crowd for sure.

And you know what, sometimes that's all that matters.

https://twitter.com/DavidMDrucker/status/1625880416287707139

But their open-sides, very public downtown site is still subject to being messed with and we'll see if that dog barks

The SCDP has a billboard truck - but no loud audio associated. If someone WANTED to mess with this site very badly, they could.

https://twitter.com/Alyssa_BradIey/status/1625865088241397767

Yeah the throw here (the distance b/w the lectern and the first camera lenses) has to be damn near 70-80 feet

Generally you want to keep that down to 50-60 feet, otherwise it magnifies any unsteadiness of the cameras

https://twitter.com/markdeloura/status/1625882231834316802

I will say - with all the lighting flown from the truss above ($$$) plus the visuals flown too, it's a very CLEAN site - no support towers or wiring visible at all, even in the wide shot

(I'd have lined those SC flags up with the bottom of the Haley banner, not the top, tho)

WE HAVE HANDMADE SIGNS FOLKS. Grassroots energy, all the way from the Buckeye State!

Remains to be seen whether the Haley campaign will enforce their previously stated "no handmade signs" rules, though

https://twitter.com/daveweigel/status/1625858175491792902?s=46&t=DIS2Rvf5j1RuGb0ACL_c3A

Let's check the livestream:

275 people watching 10 mins before it starts (not good, but these #s are always atrocious, it's so demoralizing)

They figured out how to do "hyperlinks" in the description since yesterday (steady progress!)

They disabled chat (yeah, gotta do that)

OK but per the livestream (the audio is of the room, but just a hold slide for the video for now) the next song was AC/DC - Thunderstruck and now I'm ready to run through a brick wall for Nikki Haley

https://twitter.com/markpmeredith/status/1625886611039825927

Livestream's up. Pretty expensive cameras + lenses because the quality of the shot is great.

And they're gonna have an issue with having handed out the rally signs in the crowd in between the cameras and stage (can't do it unless you're at 4.5' of stage height or higher, folks)

Honestly, she hasn't even hit the stage yet, but based on this shot, if they get through this without some asshole yelling on a bullhorn from the sidewalk, they'll have turned in a A-/B+ type event

Is there anything better than a pretty reasonably produced campaign launch for a (by comparison) inoffensive Republican who is DEFINITELY not going to be president?

God, I love it.

Thank god they added the handrail I noted was missing for the two steps up to the main stage because this pastor kicking things off NEEDED IT, folks.

https://twitter.com/dougblandry/status/1625713791169175552

Although that pastor happens to be John Hagee, who if you are not familiar, comes with some baggage:

Well if national anthems were GOP convention delegates, it would be Nikki Haley by a million. Lady crushed it

look i'm just the advance guy but I don't think spending 7 mins of your preprogram with the old white former chairman droning on about how Nikki Haley's always been underestimated is a good programatic decision

OK he wrapped with a pretty good digital / text code / field pitch so it wasn't all bad

"the room can hold 5,000"

yes, and I COULD win the 100 meters at the Paris Olympics

we love the gumption folks, we'd do it too. I need to see some more photos, but it seems there are a *MAX* of 1,200 people in this bowling alley of a site, folks.

https://twitter.com/DempseyReports/status/1625891634863824896

I see you little GoPro. Could be interesting footage. Or could be really weird. But probably can't hurt to try.

(and another reason to add that handrailing that it's attached to!)

Up to 1600 folks on the livestream, which actually isn't bad as far as these things go.

(about 800 of them are GOP oppo shop people at their desks in DC, though)

Rep. Ralph Norman (who is endorsing today) manhandled the GoPro as he came to stage THEN manhandled the microphones

Sir this is not your event, calm down

i'm bored. 40 minutes (and counting!) of pre-program is approximately 20 mins too much pre-program. These folks need much tighter remarks.

the people standing behind stage are nearing 2.5 hours on their feet. Not ideal.

Nikki Haley comes to stage to "Eye of the Tiger"

(and a wall of placards blocking the shot)

It's not a big deal once those settle down and there are likely some amazing still shots coming out of this

Compare how much difference there is between the livestream shot / focus / lens ( on the left - wide, cinematic, blurred) of the crowd and the pool feed (on the right - tight, sharp)

"America is not past its prime, it's just that our politicians are past theirs" is a good line

The pool feed and livestream are mostly stable (because those cameras are on their own isolated platform, as they should be) but the main riser is bouncing around a good bit - and the effect is magnified by the throw:

https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1625903190041407495

Can one of the 200 reporters there go ask why cadets from a public military college (The Citadel) are standing in uniform flanking the stage?

23 minutes in to her remarks and the livestream actually *lost* viewers from the start, down from 1700-->1500

But all three cable networks still taking it live from the jump (helps there's no other major news today - better lucky than good)

ah christ her walkoff music is Tom Petty - American Girl

(gives all HRC 2008 advance people moderate to severe PTSD)

I don't think they properly licensed it though because they either ended the livestream as it was playing or YouTube's automated rights stuff killed it

Speaking of music licenses, do you think her team got permission to use Eye of the Tiger from @survivorband for her walk out song better than the Gingrich, Romney, and Huckabee campaigns did?

Maybe. But probably not.

listen some people pay extra for that

https://twitter.com/daveweigel/status/1625912263470198808

campaign is trying on 1,500 as their crowd number with the press

Looking at this photo, it's totally sell-able, who's to say it's not 1,500?

I mean, it's not, but it's also not P.T. Barnum type stuff, so we're going to allow it.

https://twitter.com/daveweigel/status/1625903868272947223