Chris Dodd: He's got about 50 sign holders --the Dodd Squad-- some mo-town music, "look out baby cause here I come" and here we go... into a scattered intro. Dodd is running a "up or out" campaign. He wants people to give him a chance, let his voice be heard. He moved all of his Senate funds into his presidential campaign, which he does by saying he intends not to run (although he can easily change his mind). To his credit, he worked hard for Lamont, but the liabilities of Dodd are immense. Most notably, he's got to overcome the electability of Democrats from the northeast and he voted for giving Bush the authority to invade Iraq. That his first bill to congress would be to overturn the torture bill that was passed in 2006 is going to have some appeal. When Dodd said, "let me conclude", there were a few scattered claps by the partisans for other candidates.
Barack Obama: The College Democrats are in front of us, and about half of them standing up clapping during te introduction, but Obama has no signs, booths, stickers at the event. No intro music either (are they being unique by by being above that, don't have a theme song yet, or just a lack of . It's not so much that the words Obama uses in his speech are that different, but he's got a cadence and knows how to keep an auddience's attention. Obama says the rival is cynicism-- the staple of modern politics. At least in the start, there's no red meat here. Instead, Obama talks about the need for a transformation to happen that puts an end to the cynicism. "There's no time to be cynical... belive again... aim high." Obama has a big-tent general election pitch going on, and is trying to mark out the context of the debate. He gains some energy when talking about Iraq, and a woman dressed in pink behind us here at the last row starts yelling "yea, you can do it!" about ending the war in Iraq. The Draft Obama people are persent, and passed out a phamphlet showcasing the 33rd state to start a Draft Obama chapter. I'd sum up the Obama presence at the DNC winter meetings by saying he's got a bipartisan message which relies upon a decentralized organization.
Wes Clark: The imminent candidacy of Clark is upon us. His intro song is "Stand my Ground" by Johnny Cash. Wesley Clark has his support on the netroots, and its fairly deep and established. His record of leadership is strong, and I'm sure he's going to be a much better candidate in 2007 than he was in 2003. I have this nagging feeling though, that he peaked in September, 2003, and has been fading downward in support ever since. But when I look at the guy speaking, he exudes leadership at a time of crisis. I'm glad that Clark is running for President, and hopefully he'll bring something to the table about "how to take us out of Iraq" that benefits the Democratic party. For him to win, he's gonna have to go into Iowa and hit the ground hard, otherwise, with a 6th or 7th place finish there, he'll again fade. He doesn't mention anything about running for President either.
John Edwards: He's got quite a presence here, with booths and about 75 sign holders in the rafters ("Tomorrow Begins Today"). The College Democrats in front of us seems less enthusiastic. His theme song is "This is our country" by John Couger (I'm old school). He starts off by giving tribute to Molly Ivins, noting Elizabeth's red ribbon and women's health isssues. The struggle of poverty, the struggle of the worker, the strugle of paying for education, and the struggle of those losing family in the military, the struggle of the uninsuredd, those are the next issues. Edwards does a "Will you stand up" and his backers start chanting. I saw Edwards speak many times in 2003, and his pitch now is much more centered on the issues, instead of a rhetorical framing of the issues. Edwards never intended to stop running once he began in 2002 with his candidacy. His transformation from his last, more traditional campaign (David Axelrod, who now does Obama, did Edwards media narrative), to a grassroots, issue-based campaign plays to the sweet spot of liberal Democrats actually voting in the primaries. After his speech, Edwards becomes the first candidate to go out into the crowd and mingle after his speech.
Dennis Kucinich: I lost all respect for Kucinich when told his Iowa supporters to caucus for Edwards the day before the caucus, and then went on to be contest the entire primary season. Kucinich lets you know he's married, and has mentioned his wife's name Elizabeth over a dozen times in his speech. Yea, he's mostly been right about Iraq, but this is a vanity candidate that doesn't deserve a second chance. At least he didn't segue into singing poetry like he did at the CA Democratic convention in '03. Next.
Hillary Clinton: Clinton's sticker that she's handing out (and there's booths and people walking around giving out signs and over 150 held up signs) is "I'm In To Win!" I guess it's meant to counter the electability issue, but it seems like a slogan whose time was before Democrats showed they could run the table in the '06 election, and her main contender was a guy who sizzled with electability named Mark Warner, and before Obama. "Right here right now" by Jesus Jones is the intro song. "I'm Hillary Clinton and I'm running for President." is the first thing she says. "This campaign that we are going to wage" is the smoke signs. "when I am president working with a democratic congress we will really take our country back" is the battle cry. Then she segues into the "conversation" part. The working mother is Clinton's target. Code Pink women are in the corner, silent with a fist up holding the peace sign, and from that corner comes heckles for "binding" when Hillary starts talking about about getting a Iraq non-binding resolution. Hillary says that if we don't stop this war by the time she is president, "I will". She's the frontrunner, she's got the organizational strength, and her candidacy is formidable. I'd sum it up by Hillary saying 'together, we will beat the Republicans into the ground'. This was a red meat speech for Democrats and this crowd loved it. I'm convinced more than ever (probably due to Mark Warner dropping out) that Hillary's candidacy has stronger machinery support than any of the others. At one point, I saw Harold Ickes squeeze up next to a DNC member in the aisle, grasping him at the shoulders, pulling him close, LBJ-like, the guy reluctantly starts to nod before getting the slap on the back, and it's onto the next one.
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