An inside look at the insanity of the Spin Room at the first 2020 Democratic debate
The Spin Room gets its name from the fact it's where candidates and their surrogates go to "spin" perceptions of how they performed in a debate. It's also where journalists sit and write during the debate. Most aren't actually in the room where the debate occurs, but in a big space nearby.
Before and early on in the debate, the spin room was fairly empty.
But that didn't last long. Roughly 10 to 15 minutes before the debate ended, the room was buzzing.
When the debate ended, bodies swarmed the floor of the Spin Room.
As the media waited for candidates and surrogates to make their way over from the debate hall to the Spin Room, campaign staff held up signs with the candidate's names. In theory, these were supposed to be where the candidates would go to take questions. But it often took them a long time to get over to their designated spots.
Most candidates stopped to do TV interviews with several different networks before they took questions from print journalists and others anxiously awaiting for them to walk out into the sea of people in the center of the room.
All of the candidates entered the Spin Room through the same door, which was blocked off by both a physical barrier and a wall of camera people. If you wanted to get close, you had to try and squeeze in or box people out. Some people resorted to standing on chairs just to get a look.
Unless you came to the debate working for one of the big networks running the debate, such as MSNBC, it's unlikely you would get a comment from any of the candidates unless you fought your way through a scrum of fellow reporters and shouted your question at the exact right moment.
On both nights of the debate, virtually every single candidate was surrounded by reporters sticking a colorful array of technology into a cluster of bodies, desperate to get a photo or quote.
Gaining access to candidates lower in the polls like Rep. Eric Swalwell was a lot easier than some of the top-tier candidates.
But when Sen. Bernie Sanders came into the room, he was immediately surrounded. Sanders is one of the top-ranked candidates.
Former Vice President Joe Biden didn't come into the Spin Room. But given he's the frontrunner, his surrogates drew a lot of attention when they came out.
Though Biden is the frontrunner, all eyes were on Sen. Kamala Harris when she entered the Spin Room. Harris had one of the strongest performances of the night and the room exploded with excitement when she entered.
An inside look at the insanity of the Spin Room at the first 2020 Democratic debate
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