Galindez writes: "For the first time in their race for nomination as the Democratic Party's candidate for president, all five of the major declared candidates shared the same stage Friday night. The presidential hopefuls came together at the Iowa Democratic Party's annual Hall of Fame Dinner, a gathering of more than 1,300 Iowa Democrats."
Democratic presidential candidates, from left, Bernie Sanders, Martin O'Malley and Hillary Rodham Clinton stand on stage during the Iowa Democratic Party's Hall of Fame Dinner, Friday, July 17, 2015, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (photo: Charlie Neibergall/AP)
19 July 15
or the first time in their race for nomination as the Democratic Party’s candidate for president, all five of the major declared candidates shared the same stage Friday night. The presidential hopefuls came together at the Iowa Democratic Party’s annual Hall of Fame Dinner, a gathering of more than 1,300 Iowa Democrats.
It was the first chance to gauge a single crowd’s reaction to all five candidates. As expected, Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee rarely drew applause. It was my first time to see Chafee, and I came away still wondering why he had even entered the race. Both Chafee and Webb argued that they could work across the aisle and break the gridlock. What they don’t seem to understand is that’s not what voters of either party are looking for.
On the Democratic Party side, voters saw their high hopes evaporate when President Obama sought to work with a GOP Congress that was not interested in working with him. That has led Democrats to seek a candidate who will continue the fight beyond 2016. It is the reason so many were drawn to Senator Elizabeth Warren and so many are now backing the surging senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders.
Chafee received some applause as he told the crowd about what he called his longtime commitment to many issues, but he spoke as if he were reading a laundry list, and there were no memorable sound bites in his lackluster speech. The candidates spoke in alphabetical order, which put the former governor and senator from Rhode Island first.
It was no surprise that the candidate with the most supporters in the room was the candidate who raised the most money in the first quarter. Former senator and secretary of state Hillary Clinton has the support of establishment Democrats at this stage. I have seen several Clinton stump speeches over the years, and I think her passionate address on Friday night was one of the best speeches she has delivered. Clinton focused her fire on the GOP, naming Trump, Walker, and Iowa governor Terry Brandsted by name. She drew attention to her differences from the GOP more than her differences from the other Democrats, which was the case for all the candidates.
Clinton took aim at Republicans who express skepticism about climate change by claiming “I’m not a scientist.” She said, “I am not a scientist either. I’m just a grandmother with two eyes and a brain, and I am not going to let them take us backwards.”
Clinton had the largest pre-dinner party. A few hundred supporters enjoyed pizza and a cash bar a few blocks away and then marched to the Des Moines Convention Center, where the award dinner was held.
Former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley held his pre-event party in a pub near the convention center. All of the campaigns were allowed to buy 200 seats at the dinner, while the rest of the 1300 seats were filled by donors who didn’t get their tickets from the campaigns. O’Malley’s section was enthusiastic when he took the stage and cheered him throughout his speech. There were signs that there is support for O’Malley’s message, but clearly Hillary and Bernie had more support in the room.
Before the event, Clinton and O’Malley supporters lined both sides of the street outside the convention center, chanting slogans at each other: Clinton supporters chanted “We believe that she will win” while O’Malley supporters shouted back his accomplishments as governor of Maryland.
Senator Bernie Sanders held a press conference with dozens of veterans prior to the dinner. Sanders, who served as chairman of the Senate Veterans Committee, is enjoying strong support from veterans. I’ll do a separate story on the event with veterans and the senator’s red state tour this weekend.
His supporters at the dinner were passionate from the opening bell. After the pledge of allegiance, a chant of “Bernie, Bernie” came from his section of tables. While I don’t think Webb or Chafee had 200 supporters at the dinner, both Clinton and Sanders had more than 200 supporters in the room.
While Clinton focused her fire on Republicans, Bernie had his sights set on billionaires. As he took the stage his supporters chanted his name, and by the end of the speech he had the whole room standing.
There were several points when Bernie drew the O’Malley supporters to their feet, especially on the issue of racial justice. Sanders was the only candidate who spoke about police violence against African Americans. He also drew comparisons between minority unemployment and incarceration, which drew a standing ovation.
His call for single payer healthcare and free tuition at public universities also were met with applause by the crowd of establishment Democrats. Following the event I saw an African American women in tears thanking Bernie for addressing police violence.
I know I said that the candidates didn’t mention each other by name, but that isn’t true. Former Virginia senator Jim Webb mentioned Bernie Sanders a few times. I wondered if Webb was trying to position himself to be Bernie’s running mate. Many in the crowd streamed out of the convention center during Webb’s remarks. He was very low key, and his concerns about the nuclear deal with Iran and his defense of the Vietnam War were met with silence. I have seen Webb a few times and haven’t seen any fire in his belly. I think he is definitely running for vice president and could be an option for Hillary.
After the dinner I asked Martin O’Malley if he still thinks Senator Sanders’ support is a protest vote. While he backtracked on that, he did sum up what seemed to be the underlying attitude of all the candidates toward each other: Respect.
During an office opening in Des Moines on Thursday night, Bernie’s Iowa director, Robert Becker, reminded hundreds of volunteers that in Iowa, more than in any other state, showing respect for the other candidates is important. He reminded the crowd that on caucus night they will need to sway other candidates’ supporters to join them in the second round after some campaigns don’t reach the 15% threshold. So it wasn’t a surprise that none of the candidates attacked each other on Friday night.
Scott Galindez attended Syracuse University, where he first became politically active. The writings of El Salvador's slain archbishop Oscar Romero and the on-campus South Africa divestment movement converted him from a Reagan supporter to an activist for Peace and Justice. Over the years he has been influenced by the likes of Philip Berrigan, William Thomas, Mitch Snyder, Don White, Lisa Fithian, and Paul Wellstone. Scott met Marc Ash while organizing counterinaugural events after George W. Bush's first stolen election. Scott will be spending a year covering the presidential election from Iowa.
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