Hotelblog: Heartland Forum
I had planned on attending the Heartland Presidential Forum in Des Moines today, but the weather didn't cooperate. We began heading west on I-80 only to hit a solid sheet of ice. Still, we continued to truck along until we saw a van that appeared to have flipped off the top of an overpass and into the interstate median. It looked bad and was enough to scare us into taking the next exit.
We were just able to get checked into a hotel room and found the Heartland event on CSPAN's Road to the White House.
Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards came out first and, judging by his last two answers, he appeared to have done a good job. He hit on his two Americas theme, and most of the questions seemed to fit directly into his stump speech.
Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich is on stage now. A Latino woman from Marshalltown is asking a question -- she appears to be incredibly emotional -- that relates to the recent immigration raids in the community.
A woman named Marvie Chapman from the Mississippi Poultry Project in Lake, Miss. She works at Tyson and wants to talk about labor concerns.
Kucinich shows her his watch -- her Lady of Guadaloupe -- and then proceeds to answer her question in both Spanish and English. He says he wants to end NAFTA and get out of the WTO. "We give those who come to this country a path to legalization," he said.
The audience is responding to him extremely positively -- lots of cheering and applause.
Following a question by a Korean woman, Kucinich is now offering his labor stump speech. He is extremely passionate as he shouts that NAFTA must be repealed, that workers must be allowed to organize and that health care should be public -- Kucinich is the only of the Democratic candidates who has a fully public health care plan.
Vern Tigges of Carroll is asking a question on behalf of Iowan Citizens for Community Improvement. He wants to know about hog lots -- about air quality. Deborah Kathleen Thomas follows Tigges. She is a part of the Powder River Basin Resource Council in Colorado and continues to pound home the environmental impacts of various corporations. She wants to know how Kucinich would stop the political interests of corporations.
"Why do we permit the oil companies to have federal land anyway?" asks Kucinich. "We have to move our economy away from reliance on oil, coal and nuclear."
"We have a right to demand that our government represents us and upholds the Constitution," he said.
When Edwards was on earlier, he was asked if he'd meet with the community leaders in the first 100 days of his term as president. Edwards responded that he'd do it in the first week. Kucinich was just asked the same question and he responded that they should all just come into the White House and sleep in the Lincoln bedroom.
New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is on a satellite up-link. It seems the weather has prevented her from traveling into Des Moines for the event.
Barb Kolbach, a board member for Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, is providing the opening statement about the forum -- just as she has done for all of the candidates thus far.
I now understand a little bit more about the format. In each question period, you have two community activists. The first activist tells a story and the second asks a question.
Patricia Divine Wilder of Walla Walla, Washington and representing Washington Community Action Network. She tells the story of a family member who could not afford insurance and was diagnosed with cancer and died quickly afterward. It is very emotional moment for the questioner and many in the audience.
Debra Greenwood of Atlanta's Gamaliel Foundation continues to discuss Americans not having health care.
"I am proposing a universal health care plan," Clinton said. "I don't want to leave any American out." She said that if you have health insurance that you like, you don't have to switch. Otherwise she plans to open up the Congressional health care plan to the public.
Bret McFarland, a member of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and a physician at a Polk County hospital, says he finds Clinton's plan flawed because of the private-public mix. "Why further reward the greed of private insurance with more monies?" he asks.
"My plan provides for a public option to compete with private insurance," she said. She added that her plan regulates the private insurance companies. "I've been working on this for more than 25 years," she said.
As the doctor finished his question, the audience erupted... very positive toward the doctor and his question.
New Mexico resident Mayte Rodriquez of Somos un Pueblo Unido said she was brought to the United States when she was very young by her single mother. "We have a broken immigration system," she said. Mayte said she graduated in the top 10 percent of her class and holds two associate degrees. She said she will soon have her bachelor's degree and she wants to teach. She wants to know why her family -- a family who now calls this nation home, despite them being in different stages of immigration -- and her community cannot integrate. She says their success will be this nation's success.
Larry Ginter of Rhodes, another member of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, adds family farming to the immigration question -- "we've got to quit treating immigrants like common criminals," he said. "Is it time to rethink our immigration policy?"
Clinton calls for comprehensive immigration reform that protects our borders. She says employers should not be able to exploit people.
Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refuge Rights member Billy Lawless wants to know if Clinton is willing, in her first 100 days, to give immigrants a path to citizenship.
"I have been in favor in a path to citizenship for years," she said. "I have spoken out about it in Iowa and in the nation."
Lawless says, "What about the first 100 days?"
Clinton responds that Congress has to do the legislation... and is subsequently greeted with a grumbly "boo" from the audience. Another round of grumbling occurs as Clinton signs off.
Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd is up now.
Dodd hears from a black gentleman who discusses... with a bit of a ramble... community values. Finally the question comes to the front: Would you support community values?
"As a 22-year-old when I graduated from college, I was inspired by a president to join the Peace Corps," Dodd said. He adds that he knows that when people work together, they can make a difference. He also takes time to plug the Family and Medical Leave Act.
"This nation of ours has an obligation to not only provide that type of community values here but also abroad," he said.
Tam Tran of Los Angeles and the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights. She tells the story of an immigration raid separating her from her family -- after she was raised as an American since she was six years old.
The question comes from Emira Palacios of Witchita, Kansas (Sunflower Community Action), who came to this country 22 years ago and is now a citizen. "How should a nation that values community treat others who are born elsewhere but are now woven into the fabric of America?" she asked.
"I"m a strong advocate of the Dream Act in a sense," he said. "That's the easy thing to say, but let me tell you what I've done." He goes on to discuss legislation he has proposed and passed to keep families together.
"We have to have secure borders," he said. "We have to deal with the security issues." Dodd is cut off as his time is up. He laughs and tells them he's still getting more time in this forum than he gets the other debates.
Veronica Dahlberg, director of HOLA Latino Organization, asks about six children who were taken and placed in foster care while the parents were put in jail. "This is the consequence of enforcing bad laws without reforming them," she said.
She wants to know if Dodd will over a path to citizenship in the first 100 days of his administration.
Dodd said he would. "I begin with the notion of being a welcoming people," he said. "I will make this a priority." He said that no one candidate or no one political party is going to get this accomplished. Dodd hops to his "results matter" stump speech and hits his Head Start legislation... audience reacts to him positively.
Second group of community leaders... Cary Martin, a practicing attorney from Chicago, who is a former homeless person. She is a member of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. She tells her personal story -- how she was given opportunities that helped her to be able to succeed.
The first question comes from Kenya Bradshaw of Concerned Memphians United of Memphis, Tennessee. "What will you do to ensure my generation is not forever burden by personal debt for basic needs -- education, housing, etc.?" (paraphrased)
Dodd goes off about the Bankruptcy Bill and says it was one of the worst pieces of legislation passed in the past 30 years. "You ought to never lose your home in a bankruptcy proceeding," he said.
Dodd takes a swipe at his opponents by saying that he likes the stump speeches he is hearing from the candidates today, but he wishes they were with him 20 years ago when he was fighting for the same things they are making speeches about now.
Matt Russell of Lamoni, part of Iowa Citizen Action Network, says that pulling yourself up by your bootstraps is a failed domestic policy.
"I invite people to go back and look at my record over the last quarter of a century on these issues," said Dodd. "I'm no johnny-come-lately on these issues."
When asked if he would meet with community leaders in first 100 days of office, Dodd said the community leaders wouldn't have to wait until after inauguration, that he'd meet with them in the week following the election.
Illinois Sen. Barack Obama is now on the stage and getting the introductory remarks from Tony Boatman -- "If elected will you ensure our nation lives up to its community values?"
"Absolutely," said Obama. He is now providing an overview of his life -- that he worked as a grassroots organizer in Chicago. "Important for us, as Americans, to know that we aren't in this on our own," he said.
The story Obama hears comes from Dedra Lewis of Springfield, Massachusetts. She speaks about her daughter, who suffers from a rare eye disorder, and how she lost her health insurance. The question comes from Martha Sanchez, president of Pilsen Neighbors Community Council in Chicago. "Are you willing to tell the American public that, in some ways, there is a need for more government?"
Obama beings by thanking Dedra and her daughter for sharing their story. "Government has a role to play in helping people live out their dreams," he said. This means health insurance -- not just in an emergency room -- it should be health insurance they can count on. He said the private sector is not enough.
Robin Ghormley of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement stresses that the gap between rich and poor must be closed. She wants to know how he will achieve that goal.
"We have lost balance in this country," he said. He says special interests have been driving the agenda for too long. "They will not work in my White House and they will not drown out the voices of the American people."
Obama said he will rollback the George W. Bush tax cuts and that he will close tax loopholes for companies who set up business outside of our nation. Obama is cut off when he runs out of time.
Barbara Anderson of Cleveland, Ohio -- Empowering and Strengthening Ohio's People -- also discusses what predatory lending has done to her neighborhood. "Will you put pressure on lenders to convert adjustable rate mortgages to fixed rate mortgages? What steps will you take to provide relief to the people with these mortgages?"
Obama says that he's going to "round them all up." He wants to bring everyone to the table to help those still in their homes keep them and those who have already lost find homes. The federal government, he said, needs to regulate this. He adds that he has sponsored legislation that will help deal with it.
When asked the 100 days question, Obama said he's going to be calling all the groups in to help shape the agenda for his administration.
The event -- at least as far as the presidential candidates are concerned -- has wrapped up. If we can find the Brown and Black forum on the boob tube tonight, we might check back in. Until then, and also in the morning, every please be safe. It's mighty slick out there.
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Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, judging by his public remarks, wanted to speak to audience members in Cedar Rapids about the economy, immigration and taxes. Audience members at the event, however, not only had questions about Romney's social conservative beliefs, but left the venue with mixed reactions to his answer.


A mid-day event Wednesday in Marion was billed as a stop for the campaign of New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and, without a doubt, the vast majority of the 40-some people in attendance were Clinton supporters, but there were also those Iowans who came just for the privilege of seeing her surrogate, Gen. Wesley Clark.
Often at December campaign stops in Iowa, presidential candidates accepting questions from the audience are presented with inquiries that have little, if anything, to do with the topic they came to discuss. Such was not the case at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids when Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd came to discuss the Constitution and the rule of law.