Hillary

Dirk and I drove to Coralville this evening to see Hillary Clinton at the Johnson County Historical Society building which houses old cars. We were among the last people allowed into the building. The local fire marshal was exerting his authority to make sure the building would not be overcrowded so approximately 200 people waited outside.

She came out about fifteen minutes late, was introduced and then did her speech. She talked from 7:43 to 8:30 and spent 20 minutes of that talking about health care. The next topic was energy policy, the need for a spirit of optimism, education including reforming No Child Left Behind and cutting college cost. From there she moved to talking about "cronyism" in Washington, reclaiming moral authority in the world by bringing the troops home from Iraq "as quickly and responsibly as possible." From what I have read elsewhere the "responsible" part of her plan may leave troops in Iraq for up to four years after she would take office.

After the lengthy talk, she told us there were 200 cold people outside who she needed to visit but she wanted to answer some questions so she decided three would be the limit. The questions were about credit cards, Social Security reform, and one about why so many people dislike her.

A couple of observations, We were seated behind the stand for photographers. When they stood we couldn't see. How many pictures does a beat photographer need of Hillary Clinton - or any candidate for that matter? The crowd was large, and seemed to be made up mostly of older people. I didn't see a lot of college age folks or folks who seemed to be in their 30's. As for Hillary herself, I didn't see any horns and she wasn't carrying a pitchfork. I imagine she would make a decent President but I didn't find her to be all that inspiring. She didn't mention any of her Democratic rivals but she did take a shot at Edwards and Obama in her line about change. "You can't create change by demanding it, or by hoping for it, you create change by working for it." While a lot of people clapped for the line, I noticed quite a few around us who kept their hands in their laps.

I have now seen all the major Democratic candidates this election cycle. If the Des Moines Register can exclude Kucinich I suppose I can as well. For whatever reason the Republicans seem to be avoiding southeastern Iowa. I signed up with Romney and Huckabee's websites to make sure I get notices if they come to the area, but that has resulted primarily in negative emails aimed at each other. Such fun.