2nd District Convention Report

I asked some friends over at DU if they would writeup a recap of the 2nd District Convention. Cornfield agreed and was very speedy in getting it to me. So here it is. Thanks Cornfield!

2nd District Democratic Convention – April 29, 2006

The fire alarm at Mount Pleasant High School went off, proving to everyone in attendance that the Second District Democrats were on fire.

The Second District seated 287 regular delegates (out of 337) at their convention on Saturday, April 29. On the whole, the day ran smoothly and without incident.

One of the first speakers was gubernatorial candidate Mike Blouin. Those in the audience were again instructed to repeat after him: “Jim Nussle will not be governor of Iowa.” (This seems to have become the Blouin mantra – and one the Democrats stomach very well.) He spoke at length about keeping young people in Iowa and bringing back those who had left. One of his ideas for doing this was for Iowa to offer “real jobs” that “pay real money.” He also hit hard on the state’s educational system, stating fears of economic hardship should not be limiting educational opportunities. He closed by telling the audience he wanted to build on the Vilsack legacy.

Blouin is typically a very strong speaker and Saturday proved no different. He currently holds strong support in the Second District and received at least four standing ovations (in addition to the typical coming and going).

In probably the most embarrassing event of the convention, Elaine Baxter took the stage to introduce Mary Culver (wife of gubernatorial candidate Chet Culver). Her introduction was very good. She received good crowd response. Unfortunately, when the call was made for Mary to take the stage, no one came. The few moments which followed were awkward and did not shine favorably on the Culver campaign.

Secretary of Agriculture candidates were the next to speak. Dusky Terry was represented by his wife while Denise O’Brien was represented by her daughter. Iowa is fortunate to have two very qualified candidates who have a vision for this position and for the state. Both stressed the need for our state to value rural Iowa, clean up our waterways and continue Iowa’s leadership in the world’s agricultural endeavors.

If forced to choose based solely on the two representations today, I would choose O’Brien. Terry’s wife is both articulate and intelligent, but she doesn’t convey a sense of passion. O’Brien’s daughter, however, captivated the crowd with her memories of their family’s organic farm and their belief that all people should have access to safe and nutritious foods.

Rod Perdue spoke on behalf of gubernatorial candidate Ed Fallon. He was sincere as he complimented all of Iowa’s wonderful candidates. The most applause was garnered when he spoke of campaign finance reform – “based on need and not greed.” There are a fair number of Fallon supporters in the Second District. While it was obvious they were disappointed time constraints could not allow Fallon to address the group personally, they supported their candidate’s representative with several standing ovations.

Baxter returned to the stage and was finally successful in introducing Mary Culver. Mary spoke very briefly before turning the stage over to Culver’s Lt. Gov. pick, Patty Judge. It was difficult to recall the embarrassing moments earlier in the day once Judge began to speak. She hit on several hot button issues – women’s reproductive rights, education, healthcare, poverty, economic development, agriculture, minimum wage – and the ideas and viewpoints she expressed received wide-spread report. That is, those cheering and standing were not just the delegates with Culver stickers on their lapels. Several Blouin and Fallon supporters could be seen not only paying attention to her speech, but joining in the standing ovations. Perhaps the line which received the most unilateral support was “Iowa will not only feed the world – we’ll fuel the world.”

While someone might have walked on the convention floor and mistaken the focus for support, it is difficult to know whether applause will translate into votes during the primary. Judge has always been a passionate and effective speaker. Her energy today was high and it seemed to translate to those in attendance.

Sal Mohamed spoke later in the afternoon and, as always, spoke of how he planned to bring science back into government and how he wanted to place more money back in the pockets of our residents. Although I might be ripped to shreds for saying this, I feel it is important. Mohamed has a sound message. He speaks and his voice vibrates with his own passion for what he is saying. Unfortunately, his accent is difficult for many Iowans to understand (your author included). I believe out of all the gubernatorial candidate web sites, Mohamed’s has received the most visits. I listened as at least 50 separate people discussed their visit to his site and what they discovered there. People can tell he believes in what he is saying and they want to understand. In person, however – especially when there is a temperamental sound system in the mix – as he becomes excited about his plans for our state and his speech speeds up, it is difficult to understand him word-for-word.

When looking at the gubernatorial candidates, despite the early morning snafu, I believe the speaker who excited the crowd most was Patty Judge of the Culver campaign.

Not even Judge, however, came close to the thundering, roaring, screaming, clapping and stomping crowd which greeted Congressional candidate Dave Loebsack. As Tom Petty swooned how he wouldn’t back down, Loebsack made his way up the center aisle and onto the stage. He told the participants his campaign was about two things: Change and Leadership. He urged the audience not to confuse this with “change in leadership” because he didn’t give “the current occupant that much credit.”

Loebsack has never been a slouch in the speaking department. (I wish I had more professors at my university with his talent!) From discussing Leach’s vote for the birth tax to reminding those in attendance that “election year conversion does not equal leadership,” Loebsack simply stole the show. He closed with one of his signature lines: “I will lead when it matters, not when it is safe.”

There were also two non-candidate speakers who brought down the house: Gov. Tom and Christie Vilsack. When Mrs. Vilsack proclaimed, “It should not have taken our legislators so long to help our educators,” when discussing teacher pay increases, the audience erupted. Neither of the Vilsacks took a position in the current gubernatorial race, but Christie did state that "we have some great candidates and we need a competent governor.” To me, when compared with some of the recent attacks questioning Culver’s IQ, this almost appeared an indirect endorsement. Perhaps it wasn’t meant that way, but I know I’m not the only person in the audience who thought it was.

In one of the most genuine speeches I’ve ever heard him provide, Gov. Vilsack spoke about our state, our accomplishments, his recent trip overseas and the call to a fallen soldier’s family he will never forget. The man who died while following his orders was 42 years old, father and husband, a helicopter pilot. When Vilsack spoke with the widow, he said she could see his difficulty in speaking the traditional lines of service, honor and country. As it turns out, the man had a choice on the day that he died. He could have chosen to save himself, but instead he chose to place himself in mortal danger so that he could try to protect those soldiers traveling with him. When all was said and done, the man and his co-pilot died – 18 others lived. Once this was explained the wife told Gov. Vilack that those 18 soldiers needed her husband more in that minute than she did for the rest of their time together.

It was obvious Vilsack was having a difficult time holding onto his emotions as he thanked everyone for their support. He had to stop speaking several times in order to pull himself back together.