Dean to Vilsack...keep talking, everyone else does.

[madfloridian]

I missed a lot of Vilsack's speech, and I missed this exchange. I think it is funny.

Excuse me, I see the time, Mr. Chairman," Vilsack said, acknowledging he
had exceeded the seven-minute limit.

"You'd be the first to adopt the limit, Tom, so you might as well keep
going," DNC chairman Howard Dean replied, referring to all the other
candidates who had gone before Vilsack and who all talked more than seven minutes.

The crowd laughed during this exchange.

"Take it off the next speech I give," Vilsack continued, as the crowd
laughed and a few clapped..

http://learfield.typepad.com/radioiowa/2007/02/vilsacks_turn_a.html

The rest of Vilsack's speech is at the link.

[Olney Blue]

1. I like Vilsacks stance on the war: GET OUT NOW

[madfloridian]

2. I agree.

He also comes across as a genuinely nice person.

[madfloridian]

3. "And let me speak about Iraq"

From his speech, very powerful. I will have to catch a video of it.

"And let me speak about Iraq. The reality of capping troops or reducing the number of troops at some point in time in the future -- that's not real change. Real change is saying we want our troops out of harm's way now. (applause) Real change is saying to the Iraqis it is your responsibility, you must assume responsibilty now for your country, you must put yourself at risk -- not our young men and women. That's real change. (applause)

"We cannot wait for (the) president or congress to make a political calculation as to when and how this is happening. Look around here today. I'm not sure how many people are in this hall, but let us assume for the sake of conversation that there are roughly 500 or 600 people. Look to your right and to your left. Understand that delay will mean that the person to your right and to left -- representing one soldier who will likely die -- will occur over the next year. A thousand soldiers will die; 5000 more will be hurt. It is time for us to clearly say the war must end and our troops must be brought home now. (applause)

"And let me say that I think congress has a constitutional responsibility and a moral obligation to do it now. Not a cap. An end. Not eventually. Immediately. Those who voted for the war, those who voted to continue to support the war, those who voted to continue funding the war can surely vote to stop the war. (applause)"

[Olney Blue]

4. Those are the words I want to hear from MY candidate.

[pstans]

5. One of the benefits of not being known

Vilsack has changed his tune on Iraq. He was a supporter of the war when it was popular, but that isn't widely known outside of Iowa. It is good that he standing up and speaking out on the right side of the issue know.

[madfloridian]

6. I wonder if this article really was true after all.

I know a lot were skeptical there was a divide there, but I wondered. Vilsack seemed to be more inclusive of others in his post as DLC chair, and he seemed like he was trying to stop some of the rhetoric toward the activists.

http://radaronline.com/exclusives/2007/01/harold-ford-to-take-over-dlc.php

"Announcing his resignation, Vilsack was careful to position it as a natural consequence of his decision to run for president in 2008. "As a candidate for president, I am responsible for articulating my views about the future of our country and the importance of having the courage to create change in America," he said in a statement. "Harold Ford has earned his reputation as a persuasive advocate for the Democratic Party and will do a great job as chairman of the DLC."

But while Vilsack's statement cited "the precedent established by former DLC Chair Bill Clinton," who resigned in advance of his 1992 White House bid, a Washington source says there was an additional factor in his departure: the widening rift between Vilsack and DLC's permanent leadership over what to do about the crisis in Iraq."

I need to listen to his speech. He impressed me.

[Cha]

7. One of my friends from work

said they heard a speech by Tom Vilsack on npr coming into the job and was impressed, too. He was a Kucinich supporter in the last election.

At the time I said something disparaging about Vilsack cause I knew he was a dlcer and had no idea of his stance on the Iraqi invasion.

I'll have to get back to him with all this new info. Thanks, mad, I'm pleasantly surprised by Gov Vilsack!

[madfloridian]

8. They really switched leadership pictures quickly. Take a look.

This was the original one they posted last year, I think. Vilsack on the right.

http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ka.cfm?kaid=137

The one from 2005 or 2006.



This is the one there now.



Now from left to right it is Ford, Carper, Clinton, and Al From.

[tishaLA]

9. That's not Evan Bayh n/t

[madfloridian]

10. I fixed it.

The words are right under the picture, don't know why I did that.

[Clark2008]

12. Anyone else notice that Al From is covering up the word

"Freedom" in such a way that his name encapsules his head. FR - his head - OM.

:rofl:

[madfloridian]

13. No, I didn't notice...but that is funny.

:evilgrin:

[madfloridian]

11. Vilsack tells of talking to a five year old boy.

"You know, I was in Seattle not too long ago and I had the opportunity to speak to a group of young women and one of the young women brought her five-year-old son to the event and after I was finished speaking this little fellow came up to me and he asked me very seriously: 'Would 100 more troops in Iraq make a difference?' This fellow's five years old, and I said, 'No, I don't think so.' He said, 'Would 1000 more troops make a difference?' and I said, 'No, I don't think so.' Then he looked at me and he said -- and I quote -- 'I'm frightened every day.'

And that is Bush's legacy...frightened little kids and terrified adults. He has done it deliberately...on purpose.

[madfloridian]

14. You can't hear it in the video of Vilsack's speech.

http://www.dnc.org/a/2007/02/tom_vilsack_vid_1.php

You can hear Vilsack but not Dean. You can hear the laughter, and see Dean's hands moving and gesticulating to him. I wondered why I saw several articles saying Dean hurried Vilsack up and not the others.

Interesting, considering they could not hear the other side of the conversation....and Vilsack was joking. I think one was the WP.