This past week I had the pleasure to attend two fundraising events in Seattle, one for Mark Udall and one for Barack Obama. I’d like to share my impressions of those events.
Although unconnected, both events represent the hope for the beginning of a long span of good progressive government. Both individuals jump out as the kind of people we not only want in Washington, but the kind we need. These are indeed our heroes for a world in need of heroes.
Mark Udall
On Monday Mark Udall (running for Senate in Colorado) was at Tom and Sonya Campion’s house for a fundraiser sponsored by the League of Conservation Voters. The Campions are long time and significant supporters of environmental causes. Tom is on the board of Conservation NW and hosted an event for that group just a little more than a month ago.
Mark Udall would be a fantastic addition to the Senate. He is gregarious and confident. He is optimistic about the future. He has a 100% rating by the LCV. The LCV folks, Tom Campion and Mike Matz all spoke very highly of Mark’s work in the House (CO-2), his leadership and his integrity.
Mark said he could easily stay in the House for a long time, but he feels that in the Senate he can take more of a leadership role in moving the country in the right direction. One of the major areas he wants to lead on is renewable energy, which he sees as a key to dealing with climate change, protecting the environment and better foreign policy. He also wants to see the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge permanently protected and will work hard toward that goal. And he wants to bring the troops home from Iraq, the authorization of which, he points out, that he did notvote for.
Mark took questions from the friendly audience. One person asked him who he was supporting in the presidential race. He said he was focusing on his race and had not endorsed anyone, but he would like to see a westerner on the ticket. I asked Mark if he thought the government should get closer to a balanced budget. He didn’t directly answer the question, but said he supported the line item veto. BTW, Joel Connelly of the Seattle P-I was there, so perhaps we’ll hear something from him soon about Mark.
Barack Obama
On Tuesday Barack Obama did three events in Seattle. I was fortunate to attend the expensive one at Nick & Leslie Hanauer’s house. My guess is there were about 100 people there. A lot wealthy progressive Seattle was there (although many members of that group are supporting Hillary): Rob Glaser (Real Networks) is on Obama’s tech committee, Scott Oki (former Microsoft and major philanthropist), Bill Neukum (former head of Microsoft’s legal dept.) and many more. Nick Hanauer is a venture capitalist and major philanthropist. He recently co-authored a book called The True Patriot (which I’ll blog about in the next week or so), calling for a new spirit of liberal patriotism to renew the American dream of a society of opportunity for everyone.
Nick Hanauer gave an inspiring introduction of Obama, saying he represented the spirit of the American dream. He talked about Obama’s character and judgment and sees in him someone who will listen to diverse perspectives to solving the major problems we face, will have the intelligence and judgment to make excellent decisions, and will have the leadership and charisma to bring the American people into the shared challenge.
Obama gave a good speech, less rousing than some of his recent speeches to large crowds, but more geared toward this intellectual crowd. What stood out for me was when he talked about how he would make decisions in his administration. He said he very much liked the book Team of Rivals, which discussed how Lincoln made his 3 rivals for the Republican nomination his primary cabinet members. Obama said for him this means getting the best people possible as his key advisors, people that will make cogent arguments on important issues and will not necessarily agree with each other. He wants people who will tell him what they think and not what they think he wants to hear. Obama said that he is good at listening to their arguments and boiling the discussion down to the key decisions that need to be made. He feels that he can understand the issues, the pros and cons and the consequences of the different choices on a decision, and that he has the judgment to make good decisions.
Obama took questions. One person asked about the campaign, specifically the concern about the polls in California. Obama feels he has a good chance of winning all 4 of the early contests, especially if he wins Iowa. Also, he noted that he was 30 points behind in California some months ago, but only 10 points behind recently; he thinks the race there and elsewhere is very fluid. He said he has the financial resources to compete with Clinton. Another person asked how, here in liberal Seattle, Obama supporters could better combat the sentiment for Edwards with his populist themes. Obama’s response was that he stands by his record in the Illinois legislature and Senate and his speaking out on issues. In particular he noted he was publically against the war before the vote in Congress, whereas Edwards voted for the war authorization. He pointed out that Edwards has also repudiated other votes he made in the Senate (but I cannot remember which ones). He acknowledged that Edwards has now taken liberal positions on many issues, but said that when he was in the Senate and had a chance to make a difference he was a DLC Democrat.
I did look up some information on Obama and found this from SourceWatch.
In 1996, Obama was elected to the Illinois State Senate from the south side neighborhood of Hyde Park, in Chicago. He served as chairman of the Public Health and Welfare Committee when the Democrats regained control of the chamber. Regarded as a staunch liberal, but also "respected ... as a bipartisan dealmaker," during his tenure in the legislature, he helped to author a state Earned Income Tax Credit that provided benefits to the working poor. He also worked for legislation that would cover residents who could not afford health insurance. He successfully helped pass bills to increase funding for AIDS prevention and care programs. Obama also passed bills that put limits on racial profiling and put cameras in police interrogation rooms.
Also, JustAngry has published 3 great diaries on Obama, here’s a link to Part 3
I did get the opportunity to shake Obama’s hand as he came in. He asked me what I worked on at work and said thanks for coming. I said, "Thank you for running," to which he responded, "I’m having fun." What I saw in that exchange, in that statement, and in the entire event is someone who is very comfortable with himself. He is confident, but not over-confident. He’s running because he wants to lead the changes needed right now and he feels blessed to be doing it; so running for president is indeed fun, even joyful for him.