The Iowa Delegate Speech

I promised in my previous post, that as soon as my daughter's dance recital was over I would type out the short speech I gave to the Obama caucus at my District Convention in Iowa on Saturday. It's a little late. No one told me that she was dancing in two recitals today! (By the way, it's really important to put the "i" in recital. The spell-checker won't catch that one.)

I wrote the speech on the back of a flyer in about ten minutes, so it's far from perfect. I'll skip the introductory remarks of glowing comments I made about myself.

I can understand why some people get frustrated and cynical. Because we have had cynical people running our government for the last seven years. They are people who don't believe in government. So they don't believe in in keeping incompetence and politics out of the basic functions of government. We have seen the results of what their ideology and cynicism have done to government agencies like FEMA, to the Department of Justice, to regulatory agencies overseeing mines and airlines, and to economic policy.

These are people who used to claim that they believed in accountability. But will they ever be held accountable for the miserable results of their ideology? [Applause line coming up].Yes they will held accountable! This November!

[Crickets.]

Cynicism can be understandable response to the kind of governing we've seen. Cynicism can help us evaluate a politician's motivations and consistency. Cynicism can make the ground fertile for humor.

But cynicism cannot lead. Cynicism does not inspire. Cynicism doesn't create anything. It solves no problems. It educates no children. It heals no illnesses. It protects no freedom. Cynicism can't bring positive change and it cannot bring us together.

Hope is not a weak, happy bromide that pretends everything is alright. It is the source of our strength. Hope is our way through. And it is where America is going when we elect a Barack Obama in November!

Frankly, the above is the prepared text. They called "time" right before my final paragraph. I said, "But I've still got some great stuff. Have any of you heard the joke about the cats fighting on the porch?" This was actually a pretty good wise-crack, because Tom Harkin told the joke when he breezed through after two other candidates had already told it.

My ending got a decent laugh and applause, but over-all, the whole experience was about as comfortable a recital exam.

There's more: "The Iowa Delegate Speech" >>

Iowa District Convention Results

The Iowa Democratic Party held their congressional district conventions today. Out of 29 delegates elected today Obama received 16, Clinton 9, and Edwards 4. Another 18 pledged delegates will be awarded at the state convention. I'm not clear whether today's results represent a gain for Obama over the county convention results, but I know that Clinton won a plurality in our part of the state, but she only won one national delegate to Obama's two in the 5th district today.


I was one of three Obama delegates from Wallace County to the district convention. The Obama delegates represented about 49% of the total delegates. Clinton had 36% and Edwards had 14%--four votes from being viable. If Edwards would have remained unviable and all of his votes went to Obama then Obama could have claimed 3 to Clinton's 1 delegate. But if a handful of Edwards' delegates went to Clinton then Clinton and Obama would split the district's four delegates. So our Obama caucus sent 5 delegates over to the Edward's camp to make them viable, robbing Clinton's group of a possible national delegate.


I started the morning with a bit of a laundry problem. My business casual slacks were all in the dirty clothes, so I bit the bullet and put on a suit. When I showed up looking fantastic in my new duds, the other delegates from the county insisted that I run for the national convention. I demurred at first, because I hadn't put together any kind of campaign, sent out letters, made phone calls. But I was up for a new experience. So I got my five signatures and turned in a petition to run. It wasn't until the Obama causes met that I realized that there were fifteen men running for a one male delegate slot in Denver. Seemed like a long shot.


But they also said that we would all have an opportunity to make a two minute speech in front of the entire Obama delegation of 179 people. You probably don't know this about Henry, but Henry gives good speech. Really good.


Back in the convention hall, during the Lieutenant Governor's speech, I wrote out my speech. I'll post it on Sunday or Monday. But suffice to say, that Henry gives good speech. It would have been even better if they wouldn't have called "time" right before my big ending.


I'll make just a couple of observations about the day. First, there is a big difference between the speeches given by the non-politicians and the professionals. Second, there is an even bigger difference between the quality of the speeches given by the local politicians or state legislators and the state-wide office holders. Tom Harkin was masterful. Patty Judge the Lieutenant Governor wasn't quite as good. The challenger to the odious fifth district congressman, Steve King, was excellence. His name is Rob Hubler. And he is great candidate to take on the wretched, bigoted 'representative' from our district.


Third, several party officials referred to our party as the "Democrat Party". What's the deal? I thought that was a Republican thing. Fourth, I watched almost all these people and thought, "I could do better than that." Although his may be more of a comment on my distorted self-image than on the competence of party officials.

Watch for my speech tomorrow after church. And Henrietta's Dance recital. And Henry Jr.'s soccer game. And my usual Sunday afternoon coma (which my coincide with the recital).

There's more: "Iowa District Convention Results" >>

Campaign Video of the Day -- January 4, 2007

There is only one possible choice for Campaign Video this morning. Barack Obama's Iowa acceptance speech. It is a simple acceptance speech, but it soars.



If you locate a video in need of broader play, please email the link to proctoring.congress@gmail.com subject Campaign Video of the Day.

Thanks to TPM for the video.

There's more: "Campaign Video of the Day -- January 4, 2007" >>

Straw Poll Eyewitness

Here is a link to a good post by a friend of mine who voted in the GOP straw poll last weekend. He found several aspects of the event disappointing. Chuck used to write a column for the Des Moines Register called "Iowa Boy". He also used to be a (Catholic) Democrat but changed largely because of his strong opposition to abortion. Otherwise, he is as moderate as a Republican can be. Here is a snippet of his observations:

Huckabee seems to me to have veered to the right – even for a conservative like he is – with his rigid positions on the war, the Middle East, immigration reform. I think he has pandered to the Fair Tax crowd and the National Rifle Association. Still, he has run a fun campaign here, using his strong sense of humor, his exceptional speaking ability, stories about how he lost 110 pounds in recent years, and his playing the bass guitar in his own rock ’n’ roll band.

Click on through for some more of his perspective on the campaign.

Update: Here is his report on the John Edwards appearance in Jefferson, Iowa today.

There's more: "Straw Poll Eyewitness" >>

Straw Poll Results

The local ABC affiliate just broke in to Charlie's Angels (movie!) to report the Iowa GOP Straw Poll Results. Only 14,302 votes were cast--far fewer than expected and, I think, about 9,000 fewer than 8 years ago. (This is good news if the Iowa GOP raises less money than anticipated.)

Mitt Romney 4,516 (32%)
Mike Huckabee 2,587 (18%)
Sam Brownback 2,192 (15%)
Tom Tancredo 1,961 (14%)
Ron Paul 1,305 (9%)
Tommy Thompson 1,039 (7.3%)
Fred Thompson 203 (1.4%)
Rudy Giuliani 183 (1.3%)
Duncan Hunter 174 (1.2%)
John McCain 101 (0.7%)
Cameron Diaz 100 (0.7%)
John Cox 41 (0.3%)
Tiger Woods -7

Romney didn't do quite as well as expected. He poured a huge amount of money into this race. There were probably quite a number of people who rode his buses but didn't cast their votes for him. Huckabee is clearly a big winner here. This should aid his fundraising. Brownback didn't do so horribly that it should cause him to pull out. Paul and Tancredo both did a little better than I expected.

The only ones I could see pulling out after this are Tommy Thompson and Duncan Hunter. But if Brownback's numbers cause his fundraising to dry up then he could be gone as well.

Incidently, the announcement of the results was delayed by over an hour because of some problems with one of the voting machines. They had to count 1,500 votes by hand. There was a last-minute lawsuit this week by a group that was trying to force the leadership to use paper ballots and to count the votes in public. The lawsuit doesn't look so silly now.

Update: Don't know why this post disappeared for a half hour, but I'm putting it back up with a new time stamp.

There's more: "Straw Poll Results" >>

A Poll Made of Straw--Yippee for Iowa Dems

So now Huckabee is saying that he is staying in the Republican straw poll--but he might change his mind. Frankly, with Gilmore out, it would really be hard to put your heart and soul into it. Meanwhile Fred Thompson is not yet committed to participating in the August event.


I, for one, am just delighted about what is happening to the straw poll in Iowa. With Giuliani and McCain out and Gilmore following them, with T. Thompson and Huckabee considering a pass as well, the poll is looking like the competition will be between Tancredo and Brownback to see who can bus more single-issue cranks to Ames in August. I'm imagining a rumble in the streets between the pro-life and anti-immigration zealots snapping and singing "When you're a kook, you're a kook all the way"

But that's not what I'm here to talk about. Why am I so delighted? I'm pleased because I'm an Iowa Democrat who enjoys seeing the other state party in crisis. The Republican Straw Poll is the premiere fund raiser for the Iowa Republican party. It does more than fund their caucus; it funds a large part of their operation. As I understand the process, the Party sells tickets to the event. People with tickets get to attend and vote. So the campaigns buy up all the tickets at $30 a pop, give them to their supporters and make sure that they have a way to get to the Iowa State Campus in Ames. They give them rides, rent busses, and carpool. Each campaign also has a tent in the parking lot where they provide food, entertainment, and encourage their portly supporters to perform erotic straw poll dances. (Yikes! We will pause for a moment while I pluck out my mind's eye...)

[pause]

I assume that the Party also charges rent for the tent space. This is all supposed to be a test of their organizational strength and ability to identify their supporters. But it's really a good ol' Iowa shake-down. The shake-down only works because there is the tremendous fear that if your candidate doesn't fair well in the straw poll it will be "farewell" to the campaign (think Liz Dole in 2000).


This might be an indication that these same candidates are trying to lower expectations for the caucuses. Romney has been advertising here for two months with the same two damn commercials. McCain and Giuliani, who aren't natural fits for the state's Republican base, aren't likely to do well in the caususes. Fred Thompson has a much better shot, so he might participate if he can get organized in time. Still, it's possible that Iowa is going to end up mattering a whole lot less this year for the top GOP candidates if McCain and Romney bail.


Meanwhile, it's just fun to watch the state Republican leadership, cry and moan about their fundraiser going down in flames. Chuck Laudner, executive director of the Iowa Republicans, told Radio Iowa last week:

"This event helps us pay for Caucus Night and all those activities, plus it helps us fund our state house and senate races," Laudner said. "...It's a kick in the shins, or a little higher, right to the Iowa Republican Party."

I might dwell on that image for a moment.

There's more: "A Poll Made of Straw--Yippee for Iowa Dems" >>