Here's a picture of the finish line-- with the Boyfriend's back facing the camera (he's the one in the blue shirt):
As I mentioned in my last post, this is an active time of year for those following the presidential campaign. On Saturday night I attended the annual Johnson County Democrats Barbeque at the Johnson County Fairgrounds and rubbed elbows with a few presidential wannabes like my guy John Edwards, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich, Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd, and New York Senator Hillary Clinton. Joe Biden didn't make it, but sent his wife and sons in his place. Barack Obama didn't show either, choosing to have actor Forest Whitaker as a stand-in. While I know that the candidates often have friends or family members make appearances for them, I can't help but feel that Whitaker's appearance, and the hype surrounding it, is indicative of much that is wrong with the nature of politics in this country.
In any case, the event was a blast and I spent the first hour or so of it cheering and chanting with other Edwards supporters and then meeting the Senator and Elizabeth Edwards in person. After listening to Senator Edwards' speech I wandered around the fairgrounds and mingled with my fellow Johnson County Dem's and the local politicos, including Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek and City Council candidate Brandon Ross.
The final speaker of the evening was Hillary Clinton, who was introduced, in a rather long and rambly way, by George McGovern. Yes--that McGovern. Okay, I'll admit that my first thought was, "McGovern's still alive?" But, the second thought was that McGovern seemed a strange choice. Don't get me wrong, I admire McGovern's antiwar politics and his role in elevating the status of the caucuses and primaries in choosing the Democratic presidential candidate. However, as I stood there in the hot and stuffy barn listening to him talk about Hillary and Bill's work on his '72 presidential bid, I couldn't help but feel that the Clinton campaign was using McGovern to win over Iowa's progressive and anti-war Democrats, while she herself is neither truly progressive nor sincerely anti-war. That said, she seemed popular with the crowd who seemed not to notice, or care about, her pandering.
Despite being underwhelmed by her speech at the barbeque, I went to see Hillary again today at a community center in Anamosa, a dinky town in Jones County. The crowd was definitely grayer than the one the day before and was fully of enthusiastic Hillary supporters. (However, judging from what I overheard in the crowd, as much as they liked Hillary they vastly preferred Bill and would have happily voted for him a third time.)
Hillary's speech was a variation on her standard stump speech, which I've now heard in bits and pieces at the LiveStrong Cancer Forum, the Harkin Steak Fry, the AARP debate, and most recently at yesterday's barbeque. That said, today's delivery was better. While not as politically adept as Bill, she does know how to read a crowd and her speech today was gentler and less strident than usual. That said, she was typically vague in describing what she would do as president. There was a question and answer session at the end and I did have the opportunity to ask a question--the first question, actually. I asked about what--specifically--she would do to make college more affordable, since improving education was one of her speech's main themes. Her first response was that she'd be proposing a new education plan in a few days--whatever. She then went on to say she'd like to lower interest rates on student loans to around 2%-- which is, even I must admit, fabulous--but she didn't suggest how this might be paid for. She added that she would also like to see students' loans forgiven in return for new graduates giving back to their communities as teachers, nurses, or public servants. I happen to think this is a great idea. It's also very similar to the plan that John Edwards proposed months ago. But, I'll stay tuned to see what else she has to say on the topic in the next few days.
Now, lest you all think that I can't stand Hillary, I should say that I voted for her twice as Senator-- and did so happily. And, I told her this when I shook her hand after the event. I just didn't tell her that I wasn't planning on caucusing for her. All in all though, I was glad that I went to hear her. I definitely prefer seeing the candidates in a more intimate setting where they are actually forced to interact with the audience and answer questions.
Until next time, here are some photos:
2 comments:
You should write a post about Iowa beating Illinois today at Kinnick. It was pretty sweet.
Nice blog. I look forward to reading more!
Maybe next time you could ask Hillary how she plans to use Bill once she is elected. It's all well and good to use him to get votes, but once she's in office she won't want him stealing her show.
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