The Scene In South Carolina
"It's a pretty workmanlike atmosphere, frankly, as the debate is going on," said Ververs. Most reporters don't talk during the debate, he said, though "once in a while" someone cracks a joke. I asked Ververs if pack journalism was an issue in a setting like that. (Pack journalism is journalism that becomes homogenous as reporters talk to each other and share ideas, draining their coverage of original thought.)
"I think journalists do speak to one another, and everyone sort of shares their general observations," said Ververs. "But on the other hand, we all want to provide the smartest analyses, the newsiest news, and we're not going to scoop ourselves on these things, so the comments are pretty general in nature."
I also asked Ververs why reporters needed to make the trip down to South Carolina when they could have simply watched the debate on television.
"There are definitely advantages of being at the location of these events," he said. "It's not so much the debate itself. It's everything surrounding it. You can see the body language of the campaigns. You have the ability to interact with them on one-on-one basis. It's the access you get to these guys. Even if all you're getting is spin in the spin room, you can read the body language, absorb the atmosphere."
All of the candidates came through the spin room, which is usually filled with each candidate's staffers and boosters, in order to make an appearance on Fox News' "Hannity & Colmes," which had set up in the area. But not all of them stayed to talk to reporters. Ron Paul, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, Tom Tancredo, and Jim Gilmore were among those who did.
"Just like at the Democratic debate, it's the lesser known candidates who usually linger," said Ververs. "The ones who don't have a large staff."
You can read Ververs' debate analysis here.