How is this manufactured in any untoward way? Influential people (certainly more than Axelrod if we're being honest) like this guy, the press amplifies the viewpoints of influential people, and so he did better in the press than the candidate you volunteer for.

Have you considered that because of your affinity for Gabbard, you overestimated her ability to connect? Or that you are overconfident in your ability to estimate who had the objectively superior SXSW town hall performance?