Galindez writes: "The historic Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, was the last place Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. Richardson shared their music with the world before their untimely death in a plane crash."
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks at the Iowa Democratic Wing Ding on Friday in Clear Lake, Iowa. (photo: Win McNamee/Getty)
19 August 15
LEAR LAKE, IOWA – The historic Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, was the last place Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. Richardson shared their music with the world before their untimely death in a plane crash. On Friday night it was home to the 12th Annual Democratic Party Wing Ding. The event was a fundraiser for several county Democratic parties in Iowa. The headliners on this night were four of the Democrats running for president of the United States. Missing was former Virginia senator Jim Webb, who had a scheduling conflict in New Hampshire.
The last time all five candidates shared the same stage they spoke in alphabetical order. Unfortunately for Webb, following Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders meant that many of the attendees streamed out of the room while he was speaking. This time the candidates drew straws, and Clinton led off, followed by Sanders, O’Malley, and Lincoln Chafee.
For hours before the doors opened there was a sign war going on outside between supporters of Clinton and O’Malley. Most were young people the campaigns had brought into Iowa from out of state. As the O’Malley supporters chanted O O O O Oh … I could tell, as an Oriole fan, that they were from Maryland and have practiced the chant at Camden Yards.
O’Malley, who is barely registering in the polls in Iowa, had the most enthusiastic crew outside lining the street. I spoke with the father of an O’Malley staffer who confirmed that O’Malley’s national staff was in Iowa for the State Fair and the Wing Ding. Clinton’s crew outside put up a good fight and were also enthusiastic.
The Sanders campaign had a strong presence inside the room but did not participate in the show outside. One staffer said they were confident that they would have a strong showing in the ballroom, and they did.
Clinton seemed to have the most support in the room, not a surprise since the event was a fundraiser. It was a strong speech that included a joke about her email scandal. Clinton told the crowd that she had just launched a snapchat account. She then joked that the messages delete themselves all by themselves. The former Secretary of State also took aim at those pushing Benghazi and the email investigations. “I won’t pretend that this is anything other than what it is, the same old partisan games we’ve seen so many times before,” Clinton said. “So I don’t care how many superPACs and Republicans pile on. I’ve been fighting for families and underdogs my entire life and I’m not going to stop now.”
Clinton also laid into Republican priorities. “Republicans want to stack the deck even more for those at the top – you saw this in the Republican debate the other night. Seventeen candidates and not one of them said a single word about how to address the rising costs of college … about equal pay for woman. Or quality preschool for our kids … No solution to sky rocketing prescription drug costs. No commitment to end mass incarceration, or to say loudly and clearly: ‘Yes, Black lives matter!’”
Bernie Sanders went second and came on stage to enthusiastic support. He spoke about the surging support for his insurgent campaign. Just four months ago, Sanders told the audience, he wasn’t even sure he would run for president. What has happened in the three-and-a-half months since he declared his candidacy, he said, “has blown my mind because we are generating an enormous amount of enthusiasm.” Just last weekend, he noted, he spoke to big crowds in Seattle (15,000) Portland, Oregon, (28,000) and Los Angeles (27,500).
“The media often ask me why we seem to be generating so much enthusiasm and why we have so much energy on this campaign. My answer is that the American people are sick and tired of establishment politics, establishment economics and establishment media. They understand that corporate greed is destroying our economy. They understand that American politics is now dominated by super PACs and that the mainstream media is prepared to discuss everything except those important issues facing the American people.”
He focused on economic issues. “We need an economy that works for the middle class and not just for the top 1 percent.” He called for raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. He said women deserve pay equity with male workers. He said too-big-to-fail banks must be broken up and Wall Street regulations reimposed.
He talked about the environment, saying the Keystone XL pipeline must not be built to carry the dirtiest oil on the planet from Canada to refineries along the Gulf of Mexico.
Former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley told the audience that he’s the only progressive candidate who has a long track record of executive experience.
“Tell me what we’ve come to as a country, that you can get pulled over for a broken tail light, but if you wreck the nation’s economy you’re totally untouchable,” O’Malley said. “That is not the American dream. That is not how our economy is supposed to work.” His supporters were just as enthusiastic inside as they were outside, chanting his name several times.
He also focused on his accomplishments as the governor of Maryland. “We expanded family leave and voting rights, we passed driver’s licenses for new American immigrants, and we banned the sale of assault weapons,” he said. “Actions, not words. We fought for the DREAM Act, we fought for marriage equality and we won. Actions, not words.”
He got his largest applause when he called for reinstating the Glass-Steagall Act, which limited the types of investments banks could make with customers’ money.
The next president can’t “give a free pass to the bullies of Wall Street to work over the people of Main Street,” O’Malley said.
The last speaker of the night was Lincoln Chafee. Every time I talk to people after Chafee speaks, they say he is a nice guy. He does come across that way, smiling through his whole speech. The opposite of Bernie Sanders, who you can tell is tapping into people’s anger toward the establishment.
Chafee comes across as a guy who would give Donald Trump a hug to open the first debate if they were the nominees for president.
Chafee did take on Jeb Bush’s recent remarks about how stable Iraq was when his brother left office. He asked if Jeb had drunk some kind of “neocon kool-aid.” He called Iraq a chaotic mess after George W’s invasion.
Chafee focuses a lot on being the peace candidate and said he would “end the wars and bring the money home.”
He also makes the case that his record as a mayor, senator, and governor separates him from the rest of the field.
Following the event I spoke to an attendee, John Klaus, who was of two minds. “On my left, I’m wearing a Bernie. On my right, I’m wearing a Martin O’Malley,” he said.
Klaus said Clinton is in the back of his mind, and acknowledged that there’s a good chance he’ll be knocking on doors for her during the general election campaign. He said he’s okay with that.
“But for now, I’m working for Bernie,” he said. “I love Bernie. And I like Martin.”
Clinton, he said, is too distant, not genuine enough. He was not ready to call her inevitable. And Klaus says he’s happy the Democratic contest is becoming interesting.
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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