I secured a front row center seat for Wednesday’s appearance by Sen. John McCain at the AlwaysOn Innovation Summit. (The conference continues today with a live webcast.) I recorded his talk but only had time to post this 3 1/2 minute response to a question from the audience about Saudi Arabia and Pakistan’s role in terrorism; the video and audio quality seem pretty good.
Watch MPEG-4 video (19.5MB, hi-quality) | Ourmedia page
Flash version on Internet Archive
Afterward, I followed the media throng outside, where he answered some additional questions (the usual media questions about his cash-flow problems, etc.). He made one interesting remark there: his belief that nuclear power was "very safe" and, in answer to a question about where the nuclear reactors should be located, he said, "Anywhere, including my back yard." I didn’t capture that on video, but the camera crews did.
I also had the chance to briefly shake hands with the Senator ("nice to see you," he said), whose public service to the country I admire, even if I disagree with many of his political views.
Here are a few images from the conference — the first Flickr photos I’ve ever posted taken from my camcorder. Not bad.
Update:
My photo was in today’s San Jose Mercury News: Me, blogger-journalist Steve Gillmor, and Denise Howell, all taking video and photos of McCain. The caption said, "Tech entrepreneurs and venture capitalists capture John McCain’s visit at Stanford on Wednesday." Misunderstood and misidentified once again.
I had my hand up during the Q&A with McCain, and emcee Tony Perkins signaled to one of the mike people to call on me, but time ran out before I could pose this question:
Lasica: I’m a videoblogger for Ourmedia.org, but don’t worry, I’m not looking for a Macaca moment. Senator McCain, many of us were disappointed three years ago that we couldn’t vote for a Kerry-McCain ticket. Or, for that matter, a McCain-Kerry ticket. Senator, isn’t it time for a realignment of American politics? What will it take to end the polarization in Washington, where stalemate and partisan bickering take precedence over serving the public interest? Will it take a third party candidacy? A drubbing of the Republican Party at the polls in 2008? What will it take to end politics as usual?
McCain: ???
JD Lasica, founder of Inside Social Media, is also a fiction author and the co-founder of the cruise discovery engine Cruiseable. See his About page, contact JD or follow him on Twitter.
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