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[This is one of a continuing series of candidate speech transcripts from all the Democratic presidential campaigns. Please see the introduction to this series for more information.]
John Edwards
The Moral Test of Our Generation
Saint Anselm College, Manchester, New Hampshire
10/29/07
[This is one of a continuing series of candidate speech transcripts from all the Democratic presidential campaigns. Please see the introduction to this series for more information.]
Joe Biden
National Security and Civil Rights
Drake University School of Law, Des Moines, Iowa
4/3/07
[This is one of a continuing series of candidate speech transcripts from all the Democratic presidential campaigns. Please see the introduction to this series for more information.]
Chris Dodd
Rekindling the Flame -- A Call for A New American Patriotism
Nashua City Hall Plaza, Nashua, New Hampshire
6/23/07
So, starting today and for the next eight weekdays, I am going to reprint -- in full -- speeches from each and every candidate for the Democratic nomination for president. I believe that each candidate can express in their own words what their candidacy is all about and why you should be convinced to vote for them. I trust in the intelligence of the American public, and their ability to sort out which person would be the best suited for the job -- and so I present the candidates (in their own words) to you, the electorate. Because no matter how many live speeches the candidates give -- no matter how many pancake breakfasts they attend or how many high-priced fundraisers they address -- the simple mathematical fact is that the overwhelming majority of voters will never get to hear a single candidate speak. But that doesn't have to mean that you shouldn't get the opportunity to compare the candidates side-by-side as if you had attended their speeches. So I am providing this series of speech transcripts as a public service for voters everywhere.
The candidates speak, you decide.
As it should be.
...For all of you interested in showing Dianne Feinstein what the voters of California think of her recent actions, there is a drive for the California Democratic Party to officially censure Senator Feinstein at its upcoming executive board meeting. I have no contact information for them, but if I were thinking of letting them know how I felt, I'd start at the California Democratic Party website.
For this week, the award goes to that brave Democratic Senator who stood up and filibustered Michael Mukasey's confirmation in the Senate. With the backing of 39 other stalwart Senators, this maneuver has scuttled for now the confirmation vote. The White House and the Republicans in general howled over this tactic, ignoring the fact that they've been doing the same thing on virtually every bill this year. One lone Democrat in the Senate deserves the MIDOTW award this week for successfully killing Mukasey's nomination.
Oh, wait.
That didn't happen.
I have believed for a long time now that whenever you see dismal poll numbers for Congress' approval ratings, there is one simple reason for them: Iraq. Democrats swept both houses of Congress last year, and the reason why the people who voted them in do not approve of the job they've been doing is because they haven't done more to end the war in Iraq.
The first column I wrote this year on the presidential campaign (5/23/07) took a decidedly unconventional view of the primary season: What if all the pundits are wrong and we DON'T crown a winner on February 5th? Is it possible, in other words, that no winner will be anointed and the campaign will continue -- perhaps all the way to an open party convention?
Jump forward six months, and the pundits are finally beginning to wonder about such a possibility. Chris Cillizza, political blogger for the Washington Post, has just written an article which explores this question in detail, for both parties -- if there is no one clear winner on February 5th, then what could the delegate map look like? It's a great read if you're into wonky "what if" speculation, and the best breakdown I've seen yet of how it all could play out.
So here we are, with a year and a day to go before the 2008 presidential election. But what will we be talking about next November as we head to the polls?
I know it is supposed to be my job to prognosticate the future by throwing a dart at the wall and loudly proclaiming "This is where we will be!" -- but today I am turning over the prediction business to you instead. Because I am interested in what other people think the momentous issues of next year's election will be, no matter who is left running. So let me know what you think.
I admit I was going to give this week's award to Henry Waxman, who (as Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform) singlehandedly seems to be taking on the job of investigating Bush's numerous power grabs and fiascos, perhaps he'll qualify for a special "Most Impressive Democrat of the Year" award later.