Veepstakes

Dear Viewers,

Tuesday night's spin alley (search) was vastly different from the one for the first presidential contest debate — both in layout and size.

Yes, the hall last night was significantly bigger, but my guess is that there were also far less people there. It seemed there was a reduced force of media — lots of empty seats in the media area — and I did not see many media faces I recognized from the first debate. I took many pictures, which I will post later to give you a better idea of spin alley. We had many of our anchors and correspondents on site, but I did not see many from the other networks meaning that either I missed them, or that the other networks cut back from the first debate.

The most "chaos" came towards the end of the night in the spin room when enthusiastic supporters from both campaigns got a bit aggressive with their signs as they stood and shook them behind people appearing on television. We watched the "dueling" and clashing signs behind the guests on "Hannity & Colmes," waiting for our show to start at midnight — and in the end it was tame. Politics can get more heated than some bar room brawls, but this did not.

Like the first debate, there were many politicians who wandered the spin room with an entourage wanting to get interviewed by the print or TV media. I always feel sorry for the ones who wander the room with a sign indicating availability, yet no one in the media interviewing them.

Inside the actual debate room I discovered a much smaller audience than the first debate — but each seat was filled. I was disappointed that the audience appeared to be mostly "fat cats" for both sides and no or few students. Inside the debate hall I met the mayor of Cleveland who seemed quite excited to have her city host the debate.

The pics should be up in a few hours for you to see.

Greta

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Watch "On the Record with Greta Van Susteren" weeknights at 10 p.m. ET