I had the unique opportunity to host a reception and fundraiser this past Monday for the next First Lady of the United States -- Elizabeth Edwards. I have been bugging the campaign for a while to bring John or Elizabeth to Grand Rapids, Michigan and learned about a month ago that Elizabeth wanted to come.
While I've never done anything like this before, I have been fairly active in our local progressive community including the Kent County Democratic Party, Grand Rapids DfA, progressive friends and, of course, the Edwards campaign. Luckily I had some friends who I joined the Host Committee:
Earl and Danielle: An attorney and homemaker. Earl is my co-leader of the local grassroots movement for Edwards and has worked very, very hard to get John elected. And Danielle has gotten real involved too.
Paul: An attorney, who lives down the street and, along with his wife
Melissa, has became our family friend since our kids go to school together.
Allison and Jeff: A small-businesswoman and architect, whom I met through my wife about two weeks after we moved to Grand Rapids.
and most of all Chris and Janice: An attorney and teacher who hosted the reception at their house across the street. I knew Chris back in Ann Arbor and, small world, he moved into the neighborhood about ten years later.
I also have met some folks because of my activities in the Democratic community here in West Michigan:
Brandon Dillon: A state senate staffer and Kent County Commissioner who I met while working on a local campaign.
Lois and Matt: Who folks had tipped me off was supporting Edwards and I met her at a fundraising gala for the county party.
And finally the host committee was rounded out by two people I met simply by cold calling them since they had been generous contributors to Edwards in the past:
Bob: A businessman in the movie theater sector.
Jamie: A businesswoman in the healthcare sector.
Again, thanks to all of you for being so generous with your time and working hard to make the visit a success!
So we had a good host committee, especially for one put together in just a week, with folks active in the following: various attorney communities, business, the Progressive Women's Alliance, East Grand Rapids, unions, among electeds, etc. Meaning, we got a good cross-section of Democrats at the reception. Finally, since there were grassroots activists involved, there were a good number of regular rank-and-file supporters at the reception. That's something I was very proud of and something I know didn't happen with another candidate came to town.
Anyway, on to my quick thoughts on Elizabeth and the reception.
But before that, I should mention that, on his way back from Chicago, Campaign Manager David Bonior stopped by the reception. We on the host
committee had learned about his visit about three days earlier, but I think a lot of guest were pleasantly surprised. I talked with him briefly about the SEIU endorsement proceedings and he said that news would come in about two or three weeks and that he felt positive that the campaign had made its best case possible.
Elizabeth arrived on-time to the reception (I consider 6 minutes late on time for such an event). At the door she was greeted by Chris and Janice's' little four-year old girl twins. Elizabeth immediately bent low and started talking to the girls. She then headed out back to shake hands and exchange words with the guests. She did this for quite some time and I think everyone who was willing to walk up next to her got at least a warm greeting. Others, had the opportunity to talk with her for several minutes. I made sure that she got introduced to everyone on the host committee, but tried not to hover too much around her so everyone had their moment. I did get the chance to have Elizabeth meet my wife and two little daughters. Again, Elizabeth was, as you would guess, just great with the little ones. She commented complemented my 4-year old daughter on her curly hair and smile and my 7-year daughter on her dress saying that "my daughter Emma Claire has the same dress" (props to Allison who owns Snapdragon Boutique, a great kids clothing store in East Grand Rapids, where my wife bought the dress). I know she also played with Earl's kids. It was real nice having the little ones around, since that is really why we're doing all this -- for them.
Finally, it was time for the introductions. I started off by thanking everyone on the host committee individually and pointed them out to the crowd. I tried to crack a joke about being weary of inviting someone from North Carolina up for a party, since the last time we did that in Michigan we invited up a little college called Appalachian State to Ann Arbor and they won in Michigan. But, having thought it over, I did now want North Carolinians to win in Michigan. I then went on to discuss our grassroots efforts in West Michigan. I mentioned that we were the only campaign to have a table at the Kent County Democratic Party fundraising gala, the only campaign to march with our brothers and sisters in the labor movement in the Grand Rapids Labor Day Parade, the only campaign to donate a brick to the Spirit of Solidarity labor monument in downtown Grand Rapids, one of two campaigns that has regular meetings in town, and the largest Edwards grassroots group in all of Michigan. I encouraged folks to get
involved with us and promised that we would do everything we could to get John a win in Michigan. I then mentioned that one of the qualities that Elizabeth had seen in John from their first date was kindness, and that writ-large that was what I saw in him -- he understands and is compassionate with Americans. I then gave a special thanks to Chris and Janice for hosting the event and gave the floor to Janice who introduced Elizabeth by discussing her strength in the face of obstacles.
Elizabeth then gave about a 10-minute speech about the campaign. She discussed healthcare, the Iraq War, giving Washington back to the American people, poverty, etc. And sheencouraged us to get active in the campaign since she and John couldn't do it alone. That such transformation change needed a grassroots movement behind it in order to finally be successful.
Elizabeth then took five questions and gave long answers. I wish I could tell you all that she said, but I was spending some of the time thinking about what I'd done wrong in my introduction and counting the guests (we had planned to video the event, but forgot). If you remember what she said, let me know.
Question 1: "How do we talk with those crazy Republicans?"
Elizabeth: I can't remember what she said to this.
Question 2: "Who will John pick as his Vice President?"Elizabeth: Someone who has the same political views as he has. Since, should John be no longer able to serve, he things the American people should still get the vision that they voted for. "So, it'd have to be a change agent."
Question 3: Something about healthcare?
Elizabeth: I can't remember what she said to this either.
Question 4: "How can you win with a stress on the poverty issue when so many people don't seem to care about the poor or don't consider it a vital issue?"
Elizabeth: I think Americans do respond to a patriotic call to help their fellow Americans. John's emphasis on alleviating poverty tells people something about his values and deeply held beliefs.
Question 5: "How can you win the primary?"
Elizabeth: We'll, we're up against two celebrity candidates and sometimes the media just fixates on them. But we've got a good strategy to win this thing. Winning in Iowa will change the entire dynamic. We came real close to John Kerry in Iowa in 2004, but we couldn't catch him afterwards. We think a similar dynamic will work in 2008.
Bonior: I can feel a difference in Iowa over just four months ago. Things are good and getting better. We're leading in most, and the best, polls despite the fact that Clinton and Obama have bought multi-millions of dollars of TV ads. We have a ground game in all 99 counties and have the most precinct captains of any other campaign by far. Edwards has visited something like 83 of those 99 counties and we'll get to them all by the caucuses. Hillary and Obama have been to about 35-45 of those counties. In Nevada things are going very well, the majority of voters in Nevada will be from union-households and we're doing well with the unions there and are hoping for forthcoming endorsements. Already, the four unions that have endorsed us have 24,000 members in Nevada. Our New Hampshire grassroots is strong enough to push us to the top after two early wins. In South Carolina, we won with 45% in 2004 and have a great deal of support there among the Party rank-and-file and local leaders.
Chris thanked everyone for coming and Elizabeth headed into a slightly the house to sign copies of Saving Graces to be gifts for the host committee members.
We were pleased to have two elected officials there who have endorsed John Edwards for President.
Brandon Dillon (who I mentioned above), and Carol Hennessy. With those endorsements, Edwards now has 2 our of the 5 Democrats on the Kent County Commission.
It has at this time that I had a chance to sit down next to Elizabeth for a little chat. I mentioned three things:
- I pointed out that we had a lot of young families at the reception (my friends and colleagues generally) and that I thought we were a demographic that politics and even the Democratic Party tended to forget about has it concentrated on mobilizing young people and retirees. I suggested that we were in a difficult time of our lives since we were not yet at the peak of our earning power, but had numerous expenses associated with little kids (child care, especially). Therefore, I thought it would be useful to package a few ideas together and develop a Young Families Initiative that would include John's ideas about pre-K education and other ideas. To my surprise she looked at me and said, "That's a great idea, I will pass it on to John tonight." Wow!
2. As a matter of practicality, I suggest that Edwards develop red yard signs since the white ones get lost in the winter-time snows of Iowa and Michigan. I told her my 2004 sign was lost in the snowbanks and she seemed interested in the idea (Southerners don't get snow).
3. 3. I told her I was philgoblue, and she said, "no way, I know you, you've done great work for us!" That was pretty cool! I did mention that I was friends with Ryan Montoya (who was her personal assistant in 2003-04 and was then in charge of the online staff at One America (Edwards PAC from 2005-2006) and that I was sad to see that the early vision of a dynamic, well-written blog had not developed. I regretted that Melissa and Amanda had felt they had to leave the campaign and point-blank said that the current writing for the blog was completely sub-standard, that it was nothing but press releases and YouTube links. I mentioned that Cate Edwards and George Stern were great writers and that they should be employed more. I feel the entire blog needed to be rethought. I think that this might have been the first time that she heard such criticism, but she seemed to take it seriously since it came from ole "PhilGoBlue."
Then she left with her staff to the hotel in downtown Grand Rapids, ready to get to work on writing speeches before another busy day. All told, she stayed for almost two hours, far longer than had initially been scheduled. Thanks Elizabeth!
PS: Though the campaign wanted this to be a non-political and non-media event, but I should mention that Elizabeth visited Gilda's Club in Grand Rapids. Gilda's Clubs are "places where men, women and children come together to learn to live with cancer." I've seen some photographs of the event and talked with Martha (the driver) about it. Apparently it was very emotional and heartwarming with hundreds of people living with cancer, their families, and the executive board of the local Gilda's Club in attendance. The event did get a little article in The Grand Rapids Press as Edwards Visits Gilda's.
According to Leann Arkema, president and CEO of the cancer support organization, Elizabeth has a simple message: "Your life isn't over." Arkema added that the event was, "truly was a message about her journey. Her message was about celebrating the full range of human emotions and human courage and kindness. It was inspiring."
Yup, as usual, in all four of her stops in Grand Rapids, Elizabeth Edwards "was inspiring."
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