8:00 a.m.- Jennifer and I arrive on the campus of Allen University at the John Hurst Adams Gymnatorium (a building that doubles as a gym and an auditorium. It’s their term, not mine.) We are pleasantly surprised to find a parking spot less than 100 feet from the building’s entrance. We see about 12 people huddled in the cold, waiting to get in. Media is already being allowed inside. We consider ourselves fortunate to be warm.

8:02- We’re the only people standing at the table for press credentials. A campaign staffer jots our names and television station down on a legal pad. She asks us where Charlotte is. We tell her it’s about 90 minutes north of Columbia. She asks us if we took a plane.

8:05- We did not travel nearly as far as some other media. Inside the gymnatorium there are only two other early arrivals. One is a crew from South Korean television. They did take a plane. They’ve been in Columbia for the weekend, having covered Barack Obama’s campaign stop on the other side of town last Friday.

8:10- I count chairs to get a handle on how many people might fill up the room. It appears there are about 400 chairs on the floor, plus risers to accommodate another 400. I ask an employee with Allen University how many people the room holds. He tells me about 1,200 folks can fit inside the building, with a lot of those folks standing in corners and in the lobby. Campaign organizers later claim 3,200 people came to see the former first lady.

8:15- I notice the room has a bunch of speakers. A crew is still setting up the rigging, which holds the lights and speakers from the ceiling. It’s soon going to be very bright and loud in here.

8:20- About 90 minutes from Sen. Clinton’s scheduled arrival and very few people are milling around inside this building. Jennifer wonders aloud what security will be like. Most campaigns normally do a pretty thorough search of the auditorium

8:25- The answer to Jennifer’s question: police bring in bomb searching dogs. Everyone inside is asked to leave for a security sweep. We’re back out in the cold.

8:30- The crowd outside has grown to about 30 people. Two women have brought camp stools, which are propped up on the sidewalk. One woman is overheard saying she was disappointed couldn’t get into last Friday’s appearance by Sen. Barack Obama. She said she waited several hours to get a ticket to that event, but was unsuccessful.

8:35- Police let us back into the lobby to warm up. I notice a campaign staffer with a stack of hand-drawn posters. They’re designed to look like the people in the crowd made them at home, with messages like ‘I (heart) Clinton’ and ‘South Carolina for Clinton.’ Actually, I spotted only one person outside holding their own poster board. Theirs makes reference to the South Carolina gamecock. It does not use the full name for the bird. Unlike the posters provided by the campaign, it won’t make an appearance before the TV cameras.

8:40- Several more TV crews arrive, including contractors working for the Fox News Channel. You can always tell who the network folks are. They have the most stuff. These guys have two trunk loads of equipment, several backpacks and a cart to haul it all into the building. All of this for about 30 seconds of video on basic cable.

8:45- Forget the massive speakers hanging above our head. The Eau Claire High School drum line drum line enters the auditorium. Now these guys look like they’re ready to make some noise.

8:50- Okay, the drum line isn’t so bad. Their warm up is quite subdued.

9:00- It wasn’t supposed to happen for another 30 minutes, but the crowd that had been outside in the cold is finally allowed to take a seat inside. With their audience growing, the drum line gets louder.

9:15- The risers that I had guessed hold 400 people are already full. I can now actually feel the bass from the drum line.

9:40- A break from the drum line. We now hear from the Allen University choir. They’re singing gospel. The crowd is really into the music.

9:45- There are still people filing in. The only seats left appear to be right behind the drum line. I hope those people get ear plugs.

9:50- The risers are directly across from the 20 TV cameras here to cover this campaign stop. Above the top bleacher is a 20-foot-long banner that says ‘South Carolina welcomes Hillary Clinton.” Nearly all of the estimated 400 people sitting in the risers are given a professionally printed poster saying ‘Hillary for President’. All of this just so the TV audience at home makes no mistake who the candidate is on the evening news.

9:55- People start taking the reserved seats in the front row. That’s usually an indication that the person we’ve all come to see is about to take the stage. In this case, the stage is a platform, which appears to be only about two feet off the ground. It’s surrounded by a red velvet rope. It reminds me a little of a boxing ring. It will allow Senator Clinton to pace and to talk to all four sides of the room.

10:00- The media is kept behind metal barricades. These gates have been around. One has a faded campaign sticker for South Carolina Lt. Governor Andre Bauer.

10:15- Introductions begin. The national anthem is sung. The wireless microphone used by the singer is cutting out. I hope the sound crew figures out the problem before the former first lady takes the stage.

10:20- You would think campaign staffers are handing out $100 bills. There is a rush of people tripping over each other as staffers hand out more of those ‘Hillary for President’ signs. The crowd is assured there are plenty to go around.

10:25- A woman in the crowd has a panicked look on her face. She walks frantically toward the metal barricades, asking the media if anyone has some spare AA batteries. Her camera is dead and she really wants a picture with the former first lady. Somewhere in all of those cases and bags the Fox News crew finds some spare batteries. She’s back to taking pictures.

10:30- It’s like being at a rock concert. Some people in the corner have spotted the candidate. There is a lot of screaming. Sen. Clinton is not in the room yet.

10:40- The senator from New York begins talking. There is loud, enthusiastic applause after nearly every sentence.

11:20- One of the more awkward moments comes as Sen. Clinton takes questions from the audience. One woman, apparently upset that the microphone is not coming to her begins yelling. She says she has a poem she wants to read. Clinton responds that she wants to see the poem and perhaps someone could bring it to her at the end of the program. A member of Clinton’s security team takes the poem and has a brief conversation with the woman who is allowed to stay.

11:30- Sen. Clinton says she is done taking questions but is willing to talk one on one with anyone who wishes to approach the stage. She is almost immediately surrounded by dozens of people pushing their way toward the stage.

11:40- I feel bad for two elderly women. They are standing at the back of the crowd, trying to move forward to get closer to Sen. Clinton. They tell me they’re going to give up. I later see a campaign staffer escorting them to the stage around the crowd.

11:45- Clinton is escorted away from the crowd, which does not seem to be any smaller than it was 15 minutes ago. We head for the exit. Campaign staffers are handing out huge rolls of ‘Hillary for President’ stickers. Two men standing at the exit are selling buttons bearing Bill Clinton’s picture and campaign T-shirts for $10. Let the fundraising begin.