January 30, 2004
Candidates forum last night
A few hundred Democrats filled the Women's Community Building in Ithaca last night to hear local speakers present cases for presidential candidates. The Clark, Dean, Edwards, Kerry, Kucinich, and LaRouche campaigns all had speakers, and there were tables for most of the candidates as well.
Crowd gathering for the Democratic Presidential Candidates Forum.
A county legislator from Dryden, Martha Robertson was the primary speaker for Howard Dean; the other speakers were from elsewhere in Tompkins or neighboring counties.
Dryden County Legislator Martha Robertson encourages the crowd to vote for Howard Dean.
I recognized a few other Dryden democrats there, including Jim Skaley and Martha Ferger (wearing a Kucinich button). County Legislator Mike Lane was not there, though he's frequently seen wearing a Clark button.
It was a fairly exciting hour and a half, though I can't say it particularly changed my mind. I ended up disliking the three candidates I already disliked more, and stayed in the same unsettled position among the two candidates I do like. The recurring debates were over the nature of candidates' experience and whether to vote based on what other people in the country might want ("vote with your head") or to vote for for what you might want ("vote with your heart"). Kathie Kelley, speaking for the Edwards campaign, broke out of that at the end by suggesting that voting for Edwards was "voting for hope", combining both options. I'd like to think that we're all "voting for hope", but it was good to hear that expressed.
The Ithaca Journal has broader coverage of the event.
Again, the primary is March 2nd, and the last day to register to vote in the primary in February 6th.
Posted by simonstl at January 30, 2004 08:40 AMNote on photos