Candidate Meetings

[Hestia]

Good evening! I just had the opportunity to really meet my first politician in real life this evening and wanted to share my experiences/notes that I thought were interesting to hear. If you want to contribute or ask anything, feel free to put them in the thread as well!

I go to the University of Iowa in Iowa City, and the (only) Democratic candidate for governor, Deidre DeJear came to speak. 

Attached is a crappy photo I took from my place in the back of the hall zoomed in lol. 

Anyway, here are a few things I noted/thought was important

- She is an incredibly good public speaker. She spoke better than some of the national politicians that I've seen on debates or speeches before. Never was I thinking I was getting bored or even checking the clock. She moved in a consistent flow and addressed tons of topics alone in her speech at the beginning.

- The most important thing that stuck with me was a quote/interaction that went something like this. She asked all of us to raise our hands if we were planning to move out of Iowa after college. There were about 30-40 people in the room. I'd say about half or maybe a little more raised their hands. She said that her job as governor was to convince all of you to put their hands down and stay, because Iowa needs you to stay. 

- She took questions at the end, and went through huge topics and many of them - infrastructure was one I asked about, mental health, the environment, jobs, education, was all brought up. There were probably 10 questions and she took a while to respond to every one of them. 

- I asked a dull question about infrastructure and crumbling roads (something along the lines of Iowa has a surplus now yet roads/bridges aren't being fixed. What would you do as governor, etc.). In the moment I thought it was a pretty typical answer, but looking back I think it was more significant. She said that she had spoken with farmers who need to go 5 miles out of the way to move their equipment because the bridges aren't strong enough to handle them (happens where I'm at too). But the important thing was this - she said (and is correct) the surplus comes from federal funds that Iowa was given. Now, rather than going into how it's a fake surplus, etc., she said that it's important to realize that this money isn't going to get replicated. After all there are 50 states, she said, and Iowa needs to be able to take care of itself and fix our problems. I thought that was a good answer and a thoughtful one.

- She reminded me a bit of Michelle Obama or Barack speaking in the sense that (as I stated earlier) she held your attention and motivated you. At the beginning, she spoke about how Iowa had a progressive past. Segregation was outlawed in schools a hundred years before Brown v. Board of Education in Iowa because an Iowa farmer wanted their daughter to go to school. Iowa didn't blink. She said that same-sex marriage was legalized in Iowa early on because no one batted an eye here about allowing people to do what they wanted. That Iowa went to court to defend runaway slaves from Mississippi to settle in Iowa and won in state court. Just one of those things that makes you feel good about state's history.

- She spoke quite a bit about education. Recently, the state schools (Iowa and Iowa State) have fallen in national and international rankings, and Iowa has slipped from the top of education in the country to 18th-20th. The State Senate Majority Leader just stated in an address that teachers have a 'sinister agenda'. She tied it together and said that demonizing teachers is having an effect on Iowa's education and the desirability of the state for teaching jobs. She said she's spoken to teachers who have moved to Iowa, Illinois, even Nebraska (to chuckles) and that she wants to reverse that.

- She spoke a bit about local control. She said that she found it funny that the other side frequently touts local control, but go to war against school boards and city councils that want to make their own choices on different issues. DeJear said that she trusted local officials, Democratic, Republican, independent to do what they thought was best for their communities - "because that's where the rubber hits the road" as she said. 

- She spoke a little bit about legalizing marijuana - particularly medicinal. She said she's looked at a lot of results from other states that have tried it, and has seen that the allowed dosage for medicinal marijuana in the state is not working. She said that the state would have to be careful, since she didn't want the state to go the way of Colorado or Illinois who had many problems with starting it. She did say that it had a potential to bring a cash influx to the state as well.

All in all, she's not terribly likely to win, but it was a really rewarding experience to go and see. She was funny, personable, it was clear that she liked to be out there and talking to people. Before I thought I would volunteer for Abby Finkenauer's Senate campaign this summer, but now I'm thinking about getting involved in the governor's race instead. 

[jnewt]

On 1/26/2022 at 11:12 PM, Hestia said:

She said she's spoken to teachers who have moved to Iowa, Illinois, even Nebraska (to chuckles) and that she wants to reverse that.

Is this part a typo? Why would she want to reverse teachers moving into Iowa? Or was she saying she wants to reverse the demonization of teachers that is also occurring in these other states?

[Hestia]

8 hours ago, jnewt said:

Is this part a typo? Why would she want to reverse teachers moving into Iowa? Or was she saying she wants to reverse the demonization of teachers that is also occurring in these other states?

Typo! Supposed to say Minnesota.

[vcczar]

The first politician I met was Jerry Brown, when he was running for president in 1992. I was too young to really care about politics, but my dad and I ran into him in Dallas at Southern Methodist University. I used to go to the library there and use the arcade machines in the student center. I lived two blocks from it. Brown was in the student center, mostly alone. 

Prior to that George HW Bush drove by my elementary school and waved from the car, but I don't remember if I saw his hand or not, even though others saw him wave. 

In undergrad, I saw former US Sen of TX Bob Kreuger (possibly the last Dem Sen of TX who finished someone else's term) a few times. 

In grad school, I was in the VIP section where Barack Obama was shaking hands with people as he went up on the stage to give a speech during the 2008 primaries. US Rep Lloyd Doggett was with Obama. I saw Ted Kennedy that same week. He was with former US Rep Joseph P Kennedy II. Bill Clinton was also there that week but I didn't learn about it in time to see him. 

When I lived in NYC, I saw Al Sharpton a few times, PM Gordon Brown, PM or Pres of the Dominican Republic, Noam Chomsky, and probably countless others I couldn't recognize while working at the Huffington Post. I taught at Pace U with Robert F Kennedy Jr, but never met him. I worked for Fred Hochberg's (Obama's Export-Import Pres) household as a part-time personal assistant, but generally did stuff for his spouse, who was the Chairman of the Fulbright Board, appointed by Hillary Clinton. 

I saw Ron Paul speech when I returned briefly to Texas, but I left 20 min into his speech once he keep using the word "progressive" to label Pelosi, who is definitely not progressive. Sanders and Warren are progressive--Pelosi is mainstream liberal. 

I was in Boston at Fanueil Hall as Ed Markey was being sworn in to replace John Kerry. 

In Philadelphia, I saw Bernie Sanders (and also shook his hand) and Nina Turner speak. I've run into Al Sharpton again. I showed up to see Biden speak in Philadelphia, but they didn't let anyone in because of COVID and small room capacity.  

Somehow didn't see anyone in Washington DC that I recognized. 

My cousin was Hillary Clinton's campaign manager, but I've never met him. 

I feel like I'm missing someone important.

The only politicians I've purposely tried to see are Obama, Kennedy, Sanders, and Biden (the only unsuccessful attempt). Ron Paul was purposeful only in the sense that a friend invited me to go. 

[Hestia]

Interesting article relating to the meeting that I saw earlier

 

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/iowa-view/2022/02/04/iowa-democratic-party-election-failures/6653217001/

[themiddlepolitical]

Since I work for the Dems, I tend to meet a lot of candidates (since they usually go to picnics/meetings) for PA I've met all dem senate candidates multiple times, and Josh Shapiro. The first non local political I met was Richard Byrd, me and my dad where on a roundtrip and stopped at a McDonalds, and he was there (my dad was running for local office at the time) and they talked for over an hour I remember. Though I don't agree with Byrd and think his history is immensely terrible,  he was an immensely powerful politician who gave a random guy an hour of his time while still in the Senate (this was in the early 2000s, I was 5 I think) 

Edited February 6, 2022 by themiddlepolitical

[themiddlepolitical]

6 minutes ago, Patine said:

Oh, come now! Elected politicians don't eat at McDonald's (except, apparently, Donald Trump - but fear of being poisoned by food prepared for him specifically by expectation is seemingly the original reason he began his fast food habit). 😛

Maybe he was treating his staffers to a fine meal 😉 

[DakotaHale]

I shook Mike Pences hand in 2016

[DakotaHale]

28 minutes ago, Patine said:

Shaking paw with a Wolf in Sheep's Clothing Amongst the Flock Using the Lord's Name in Vain for Ulterior Motives. And he is not miraculously redeemed of that for turning against a corrupt Caesar.

I just shook his hand