Linn County Last Night

[ThomWV]

I am not sophisticaed in these matters. I probably make more decisions based on emotion or intuition than by hard reasoning. So you can see I'm just like most of the rest of Americans.

I caught part of the Linn country banquet last night, Kerry, Kucinich, and Dean. I only saw about the last 3 or 4 minutes of Kerry.

Clark is my candidate of choice. You should know that up front. Here is what I saw last night. Kerry is impressive. When the man speaks he brings a maturity and poise to the debate that is very hard to beat. I was much impressed.

Kucinich was up next and as always I expected to hear great things from him. What has always impressed me about this would-be candidate for President is how straight forward he is when answering questions. He always answers the question that was asked rather than divert to a question he would have prefered to have been asked - the rest of the 9 could take a lesson from him on that. Last night he stumbled. It was the first time I have ever seen him repeat himself and it seemed as much as anything else because I think he fell off focus. I hated to see that because I admire him and generally agree with his policys.

Dean was up next. I was unimpressed by his style but more importantly here it is 7 hours later and I can not remember a single word he said. I find it absolutly remarkable that he has risen as high as he as in the process while being such a poor speaker. Please don't misunderstand me, should he be the nominee I will back him for all I am worth.

So there are my observations. If I were in Iowa next week I would support Kerry.

Thom

[ShimokitaJer]

1. It's too bad you missed Edwards

He did a great job. Then again, I was impressed with Dean too, so maybe you have different standards than I do.

[Melinda]

2. "I was unimpressed by his style but more importantly.........

...here it is 7 hours later and I can not remember a single word he said."

It's a psychological phenomenon known as "Cognitive Dissonance" - don't worry about it. :)

[tedoll78]

3. I liked the crowd's reaction to Dean.

They were roaring about every 15 seconds, talking back to him, and he was playing-along with them so well..

I've been watching him give that basic stump speech for the past year, and he's definitely gotten better at it.

[chimpymustgo]

4. Edwards took the night. He was absolutely enthralling.

Kerry was good, a had a lot of supporters in the room.

[anti-bush]

10. I'll second that

Edwards had a very passionate speech and I think really stunned the crowd with how easily he communicated with them. His message seemed to resonate with all of them, regardless of their affiliation.

You should definitely try to catch it if they play it again. Otherwise, you can always catch it on their website.

[MuseRider]

13. O also agree

Edwards was amazing last night. He is an incredible speaker and he was so inspiring. WTG Edwards! Of course, I was loving DK's speech as well. He constantly amazes me with his clear stance on the issues but I just had to say, Edwards was fabulous.

[ThomWV]

5. I hope To See It Again Today

I noticed that it was going to be replayed this morning at 5. Needless to say I missed that.

I would very much like to see it again and have the chance to hear Edwards. I have always like him. I certainly know that I could easily fall in line and support him, or any of the others with the exception of Liberman, with all the vigor I can muster when the runup to the election comes.

Thom

[artistaboard]

6. Dean at Linn County

I also caught most of the deliveries at the banquet last night, and recall a few things: Kucinich was as stirring as always, Kerry reasoning and statesmanlike, Edwards earnest and youthful, while Dean said the same things he always says, same inflection, same smugness, nothing new, and he felt entitled to go way over his allotted time when others had followed the rules. I was not impressed.

[newyawker99]

7. Hi artistaboard!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[in_cog_ni_to]

8. Same here.

I saw a repeat of the speeches and I agree with your assessment. Dean was boring as hell. I didn't see people clapping wildly. I saw a bunch of people sitting there looking like they were going to fall asleep. He says the same thing in every boring speech. I think Edwards was great and Kucinich was inspiring, as usual, but Dean was just TIRESOME. :(

on edit...Welcome to DU! :hi:

[KaraokeKarlton]

11. I was impressed with Dean

Because he was the ONLY candidate to stick around and talk to people after the event. All of the others left and didn't bother listen to the people. I also noticed several supporters of others took the time to greet Dean personally and you could tell they liked him. I also thought it was great and honorable that Dean noticed they supported others and said he hoped he would be their second choice. He's very respectful to the supporters of other candidates, whereas many of the other candidates refer to Dean supporters as elitists and cultists. Dean was a GREAT Governor to my state and he'll be a GREAT president for my country!

[in_cog_ni_to]

14. I was somewhat

embarrassed for Gephardt last night. He kept asking everyone..."Will you go and caucus for me? Will you go and causus for me?...ack! Some people were from other candidates campaigns and were really "put on the spot" with that question, being so direct. I think he should have said, "I hope you will caucus for me." and let it go. I felt like he was making people feel uncomfortable, but that might just be me. :)

From what I've read, Dean was not such a great Governor of your state and I don't think he will be a great president because he will never be elected. JMCPO

[KaraokeKarlton]

15. Well, you've seen a great many lies posted about Dean here

So I'm not really surprised that you say that.

Virtually all of the attacks posted on here against Dean coming out of Vermont has come directly from campaign rhetoric of third party candidates who run against Democrats in Vermont. It's kinda like buying into what Rove and Bush said against Gore. If you want to buy into lies I guess it's your perogative. It's a real shame though, because Dean was a GREAT governor. Vermonters don't re-elect someone 5 times if they suck. These are the same voters who gave you Patrick Leahy, Bernie Sanders and Jim Jeffords...all great men who are seen as true heroes on this site. Do you honestly believe that Vermont, who gives you these truly heroic politicians, would re-elect Howard Dean 5 times if he weren't a truly great leader?

Think about that.

[Eric J in MN]

9. I liked the Kucinich "protectionist" speech and

I liked the Kucinich "protectionist" speech and most Americans consider protecting jobs more important than free-trade.

The other candidates should pay attention to this speech.
---------------------------------
Approximate transcript of Kucinich:

My first act as President will be to cancel NAFTA and the WTO.

When I tell people this, they respond, "Oh, you're a protectionist."

Damn straight I'm a protectionist!

I want to protect American manufacturing jobs and I want to protect American high-tech jobs.

[mouse7]

12. Funny, I saw the crowd go nuts after all the speakers

I saw loud boisterous applause for every single speaker that took the platform. I saw people who were obvious supporters of certain candidates sitting in certain areas which seemed to be reserved for supporters being almost equally supportive of all the other candidates when they spoke.

I saw nobody sitting on their hands.

Now I guess I know why police often prefer cases built on circumstantial evidence. Eyewitness testimony can be so damned undependable.