| Ah, so much democracy, so little time...
Yesterday evening and this morning has proven a relatively laid back affair (well, except for mataliandy). I'm not a big networker unless I come with a crowd, and I'm here all by myself, which means I hide in the corner. Organizers have done a good job making this a very musical experience, as there was never too long a stretch of time between guitar interludes (although the place was hardly hoppin' last night. I think folks were tired). Lots of live music, no songs written less than about 30 years ago, of course...
Despite my turtle-ish behavior, this morning has been delightful, as I got time to catch up with a few old colleagues, such as Tom Hughes (currently the Executive Director of DFA and in serious need of a real vacation - the man's a political addict. For his sake, I hope they invent a patch for that) and Kate Donahue, organizer extraordinaire who is now running Blue Mass Group's Jamie Eldridge's re-election campaign for the Massachusetts assembly. Chatted with him briefly, and he's a great, progressive guy. You should go give him some money.
And if yesterday was my day to hear blog complaints, today I've had several people come up to me saying how much they appreciate GMD. Probably a sign that the beds here provided for a good night's sleep.
This morning was the "bloggers breakfast," which apparently is some sort of tradition at these things. Jim Dean again welcomed the crowd, speaking in glowing terms about blogs and bloggers (we are "elevating and recreating the political discourse" - I'd love to see David Broder's face over that quote). Before introductions (ack! Nobody told me I'd have to introduce myself!), there was a moment of silence for bloggers passed, such as Steve Gilliard, as well as DFA community favorites JC and The OC of blogforamerica.
Pleasant scene, that blogger's breakfast. It was the only place here that I've felt that oddly worshipful vibe towards Howard Dean that always made me squirmy during his campaign, but very pleasant nonetheless.
But working backwards to last night speakers... |
| Granny D
So I didn't miss Granny D as it turned out, as she rescheduled her appearence in order to introduce Mike Gravel, whom she supports. "D" (otherwise knows as Doris Haddock) gained fame for her walk across the country a few years back in support of campaign finance reform. Speaking in front of the room of activists in a flowery sunhat, she struck me from the back of the room as looking like a liberal Minnie Pearl without the price tag.
Her talk was reasonably entertaining, although it was clearly taking a lot out of her. She started off making jokes about Republicans' intelligence (which got a lot of laughs, but made me a bit uncomfortable, frankly). From there, she spent her time talking about immigration, which seems to be her new focal cause. While her positions reflected straightforward, no-nonsense reality, as did her analysis of the effects of NAFTA and (detrimental effects on traditional farming in Mexico, the subsequent flight into urban areas for jobs, and the resultant flow across the US border) her historical analysis was a bit odd, as she stated explicitly her belief that there was no illegal immigration issue before Clinton signed NAFTA and "militarized" the border. No question that things have gotten worse, but Clinton hardly invented the problem, despite her contention that pre-NAFTA, seasonal immigrants would come into America and return home all the time with no fuss.
Nevertheless, she was a great addition to the program, admonishing participants to "be good citizens and good Democrats" by "asking tough questions" of their elected officials.
Mike Gravel
I confess I didn't know what to expect of Mike Gravel, but after hearing him, I no longer consider him a hodgepodge of uncoordinated views. He is, in fact, extraordinarily consistent, and his presentation was engaging (although I could have done without his parroting the GOP "haircut" criticism of Edwards for a throwaway laugh line).
The best way I can (currently) characterize him is as someone with a pure, straightforward libertarian ethical perspective - but who has no qualms or hesitation about using government (even what many would call "big government") to fill in the holes that a pure libertarian government would leave. Whether that makes him an anomoly or a prophet, I couldn't say. I get a sit down with him later this afternoon, so I'll see if he bristles at that analysis.
This perspective made for a unique dynamic with the crowd. In combination with his earnest, straight-talking style, the experience of the progressive, activist crowd can only be characterized as bipolar. He started off with strong, progressive minded statements on immigration, even invoking the Trail of Tears as a metaphor for the hardship faced by immigrants. It's likely he led with that to innoculate himself against criticism for being the only Democratic candidate at the CNN debate who indicated a desire to make English the "official language" of the US.
But then he ripped into everyone on Iraq, recounting his Senatorial history as a one-man filibuster machine and insisting that if even a handful of Democratic legislators took the same approach with a bill that would criminalize the deployment (targeting the Commander-In-Chief, of course) and any veto override votes, that the war could be over by Labor Day.
So the extraordinary bluntness was certainly warmly recived by the crowd. What many in the crowd (as reflected from the q@a afterwards) couldn't reconcile were his other Libertarian-esque views; his proposal to abolish the income tax and replace it with a national sales tax (which he considers a progressive tax), his desire to put issues such as abortion rights, school prayer and gun control to a national ballot referendum system that would be a cornerstone of his government. But again, even these views were sprinkled with crowd-appealing views, such as the decriminalization of drugs and government sposored addiction treament ("addiction is a medical problem, not a criminal justice problem"), his advocacy of Scandinavia style subsidized education system, and the like.
Should be an interesting conversation this afternoon...
William McNary
William McNary is the Director of US Action, a national grassroots organization that I used to canvass for in a few states under its previous "Citizen Action" incarnation. McNary was an extraordinarily positive speaker, complimenting everyone - including previous speaker Gravel, saying that "our democracy is stronger for him running."
But McNary was there speaking on behalf of Barack Obama, and I have little doubt that he converted a few people by the force of his own personality. He was funny, warm, energizing - qite possibly even more so that Obama himself, which is certainly saying a lot, given that Obama is the most engaging speaker in the race. I suspect that more than a few people in the crowd wished that McNary himself was in the race...
McNary personalized the dramatic oratorical style associated with African American leaders in a way that was natural, comfortable, even relaxed. He also was very skilled with the words themselves, delivering possibly the best summation of the ethical underpinnings of the progressive movement that I've ever heard.
Still, he was there for Obama, not himself, and he eventually slid into a presentation of Obama's biography. In my opinion, the only thing more boring than hearing a politician drone on about their inspirational story is hearing someone else do it on their behalf, but McNary gave it a better shot than I could've imagined possible - especially by sprinkling it with his own terrific sense of humor (for example, saying he could relate to Obama graduating "magna cum laude," since he himself had graduated "help me laude, laude, laude..." Ha!).
Beyond the force of his personality, McNary did a lot for his candidate by reviewing his state legislative record, which is far more progressive than his more limited US Senatorial one. He also spent time applauding Obama for cosponsoring the Specter-Durbin public financing bill (S.936) currently on the wall - campaign finance, of course, being a traditionally big issue for US Action (although McNary made a point to state that he was here on his own behalf, not his organization's)
...and so it goes...
GOt an interview with Matt Dunne on the recorder, about to go meet with Mike Gravel. Dennis Kucinich is calling in, but unfortunately precisely at the time I'm scheduled to interview Senator Gravel, so maybe another participant can get a report on that. And of course, tonight is the big keynote with Howard Dean. I'll definitely be here for that (as well as the
presentation from the e pluribus media folks, I hope).
Until later... |
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