Essential Estrogen

Promises to re-establish America's reputation in the world and to uplift Iowa's middle class were nearly as prevalent as ears of warm, buttery corn in Clinton today at Rep. Polly Butka's Corn Boil. In fact, if it hadn't been for the signs being waved by candidate supporters as their favorite spoke at Alliant Energy Field, it might have been difficult to distinguish which of the four visiting Democratic candidates were speaking from home plate.

"I've been to many of these events," said new Cedar County resident Cheryl Larson, who reluctantly admits to being undecided. "I keep hoping to hear something new -- something that will distinguish one of them from the pack. When you boil it all down, they all stand in pretty much the same spot. I don't want to see them attacking each other, but I am looking for something to draw me to one candidate over another."

Delaware Sen. Joe Biden continued his quest to both explain his vote to continue Iraq funding and to separate his beliefs from those of his opponents.

"The truth is that when we voted several months ago on dealing with whether we were going to fund the troops another six months -- the truth is I was the only Democrat to vote for it," he said. "I know a lot of you are angry. Every other Democratic candidate running for president was among the 14 'no' votes. I was told that voting to fund the troops could cost me the election here in Iowa. But, ladies and gentlemen, the truth is as long as there is a single American troop in Iraq... we have a sacred obligation to protect them."

Gary Bowen traveled across the Mississippi River for the sole purpose of attending the event and hearing Biden speak.

"I'm not sure if I heard everything I wanted to hear," he said. "I wanted to come and see him in person -- never have seen any of them before today -- because you so rarely hear of a politician's son going to war. When I heard that his son was told he'd ship out next year, I had to come. I respect that and I respect what he did with the funding. I could see myself making the same decision, because I wouldn't play politics with our soldiers."

Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards again attempted to distance himself from New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton by calling on those in the audience to demand candidates separate themselves from special interest money.

"We need to make it absolutely clear that the Democratic Party is party of the people, not the party of Washington insiders," Edwards said. "We can do that starting today if we, the Democratic presidential candidates and the Democratic Party, will never take a dime from Washington lobbyists. We are not representing them. All of us need to do this to send a clear, absolutely unmistakable signal to America about who we are and what it is that we represent. We don't need just rhetoric, we need change -- real change."

The war in Iraq held a prominent place in remarks by all the candidates.

"I don't know about you, but I think the last election was a mandate from the American people," he said. "It was a mandate for change. It was a mandate for the Congress to hold this president's feet to the fire and end this war in Iraq. It was a mandate that said, 'If you submit a bill to the president for funding of the troops, it must have a timetable for withdrawal.' If Bush vetoes it, they must send another bill with a timetable for withdrawal. If he vetoes it, they should send another one. They should stand their ground and force this president to end this war because he will never do it unless we make him do it."

Clinton, joined on home plate by former Gov. Tom Vilsack and former First Lady Christie Vilsack, was also adamant that the war must end, although she did provide a qualifier to withdrawal.

"As much work as we need to do here at home, we have a big set of challenges around the world," she said. "There are so many problems in our country that have been made worse by this president and his vice-president. I'm prepared to take those on because I know how important it is to start day one reversing the damage that George Bush and Dick Cheney have done to our country around the world. We will start by bringing our troops home from Iraq as soon as we responsibly can."

Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd agrees the Bush administration has caused harm to the nation.

"We all understand what great damage the Bush administration has done to our nation," he said. "Let's bring our troops home from Iraq. We all know the harm that war has caused to our nation. And, frankly, we can't wait more than another year until January 2009. Democrats need to stand up now in the United States Senate and House of Representatives."

While all the candidates had at least a line or two in their remarks to discuss international trade and local labor concerns, Dodd was the only speaker to directly address recent problems with imported products.

"How about the president maybe standing up and suspending the food, the toys and the toothpaste coming from China?" he said. "What is it doing for our families and our children to tolerate those kinds of trade policies? Allowing that is not standing up for America."

The candidates resumes were on display for those in attendance. Edwards highlighted his work in the courtroom to prove he had the fortitude to stand up against "rich corporations." Dodd pointed to his work on behalf of women and children including the authoring of the Family Leave Act and his continued work to pass a version that provides paid leave. Biden highlighted his experience with foreign policy and his long-standing belief that the American people deserve to hear the truth, even when it isn't what they want to hear. Clinton focused on her experience as First Lady and how that "up close and personal" look at the executive branch had firmly prepared her to fulfill the office.

"You don't have to be against anybody," Clinton said. "I just want you to be for me. I know how hard this job is. I've seen it up close and personal. I understand that it is the hardest job in the world, but I feel full prepared and ready to do this job."

Each of the candidates appearing at the corn boil were also scheduled to appear this evening at the Workers for a Better Iowa program in Cedar Rapids. While there might have been a few moments of overlap between when one candidate arrived at Butka's event and another left -- for instance, Dodd and Edwards met briefly outside the event and shook hands -- most of the time candidate paths did not cross.

The candidates will remain in Iowa tonight and are scheduled to participate in the ABC-TV/Iowa Democratic Party debate early tomorrow morning in Des Moines.