Political Equinox

Today was a big day, and we had big ambitions for the day at its advent. We planned to go to three different Caucus related events ñ one for Senator Hillary Clinton at the Gateway Hotel, one for former Senator John Edwards at Iowa Stateís Memorial Union and one for former Governor Mike Huckabee at the Val Air Ballroom in Des Moines. Each spot gave us unique opportunities to interact with candidates as they scratch out every single possible vote from caucus goers. In each case, we were successful in our venture.

Senator Clinton – From Boondoggle to Benefit

We arrived at Senator Clintonís rally fifteen minutes before it began at the Gateway Hotel in Ames. Although the three of us had no real hope of getting too close to the campaign since we were so late, we had no idea the rally would be so powerful. By the time we entered the hotel the crowd had emptied into a second overflow room with speakers communicating what is being said in the conjoining room. It also prominently featured a large screen broadcasting CNN, which was allegedly supposed to broadcast Mrs. Clintonís stump speech.

The key word in the previous sentence is ëallegedlyí. Senator Clintonís staff simulcast the audio but relied on the regular feed from CNN to show the visual. The result was a delay between the audio and video, with frequent scene changes to other candidates. When Senator Clinton was railing against George Bush and Dick Cheney the crowd in the second room was pretty angry.

The crowd was rewarded for their patience. After her stump speech and two or three questions in the main room, Senator Clinton, Governor Vilsack and Chelsea Clinton came in and mingled with those in the overflow room.

Tyler, Chris and I had a great vantage point and had close interaction with Clinton, Clinton and Vilsack.

Chelsea and I had an in depth discussion about her motherís public service plans. I made the point saying that Obama had articulated more about engaging young people than her mother, and she countered with Senator Clintonís plan to encourage public service among young people. Both Chelsea and Senator Clintonís youth director were engaging and listened to what I had to say.

I have a newfound respect for Governor Vilsack after our interaction with him. Tyler asked when we could go and see President Clinton campaign in Iowa. After spending two or three minutes consulting his own personal Blackberry, Governor Vilsack spent time figuring out what President Clintonís schedule was and personally reported back to us with regards to our question. He is the consummate pubic servant.

The three of us had the opportunity to shake Senator Clintonís hand as she burst into the room. She had the strong handshake of a confident woman who could hold her own in a political world dominated by men. It thus seemed to make sense that Governor Vilsackís button read ìReal Men Vote for Hillaryî.

Senator John Edwards – Passionate Discussion

After nearly two hours waiting to meet Senator Clinton and her surrogates we ventured over and heard Senator Edwards speak his strong and passionate stump speech. The room was packed with Iowans and Senator Edwards and his wife Elizabeth energetically engaged the crowd in not only his stump speech but multiple off the cuff questions which Senator Edwards was committed to answering.

Many feel Senator Edwardsí speech has become laced with anger, as he attempts to separate himself from the other top two candidates. I did not see this anger and he articulated each issue from healthcare, to the environment, to Iraq with the poise of a person who would be ready to take the highest office in the land. The questions from the crowd were not planted and did not have a particular flavor. They ranged from would Colin Powell be in his cabinet to what threshold a presidential candidate needed to be a part of the general election debates.

We didnít realize it at the time, but we were still wearing our Hillary stickers.

The Boogiewoogers from Iowa and the Granite Repelling Beard

This was our first (and admittedly probably last) Republican event the three of us will attend. We all felt that even if the political discussion was bland, even if we did not believe in anything Governor Huckabee was saying we felt we must believe in at least one part of the event ñ or suffer roundhouse kicks to the face.

The campaign put forth a local band of politically active Iowans who entertained the crowd with covers from old (and ironically mostly liberal) bands and artists like Credence Clearwater Revival, Eric Clapton and Steppenwolf.

After what seemed like an interminable number of songs, Governor Huckabee finally took the stage to give his stump speech. Most of it actually didnít bother me ñ although I do not believe in the fair tax nor do I think it is a good idea to mix religion and politics in the way Governor Huckabee does, I did feel his portrayal of Christian conservatism was laudable. His kind and humorous demeanor puts a positive face on an area of politics usually dominated by bombastic blowhards who cared more for themselves than making substantive change.

Then, the guest that 2,000 + the crowd came to see took the stage ñ THE Chuck NorrisÖand his wife. Mr. Norris has been an integral part of Huckabeeís humorous demeanor, filming the most memorable commercial of the campaign at the time when Huckabee needed a break for his campaign to survive. The best part of the night is that I got a picture with Chuck Norris.

After Norrisí talk, Huckabee took the stage with his base and play some country classics (beginning with the Lynyrd Skynyrd classic ìSweet Home Alabamaî) with the local band and a guest guitarist ñ Joe Scarborough from MSNBCís Morning Joe. Scarborough, a former Republican congressman from Florida was in the audience and Huckabee asked him up to perform with the band.

All in all, the Huckabee event was enjoyable. Although I disagree with most of his economic policies as well as his emphasis on religious belief in the political process, I believe heís a good guy and understand he knows how to have a good time. Iíll even go as far as to say if by some freak accident the Democrats do not take back the White House, I would prefer Huckabee as president over most of the other Republicans.

Photos by Tyler Platt and Chris Wright.