Party chair Liz Patterson kicked off the program at 7 p.m. with the color guard, blessing of the meal and pledge of allegiance. Then, taking candidates slightly out of alphabetical order, she brought their speakers to the stage.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's representative to the rally, S.C. Rep. David Mack of Charleston, railed against the Bush administration's "fraud, thievery, corruption and incompetence," and he said he chose to support the New York senator for her "experience and electability." While making a point about the need for American resources to be focused on domestic needs, he struck one sour note by saying "our failing schools" in South Carolina couldn't be improved until the billions now being spent in Iraq are redirected to needs at home. Several South Carolina teachers in the audience took note of Mack's description of their efforts. Drawing attention again to his endorsed candidate, Mack urged Democrats to look at Clinton's record in the Senate and said we "need to bring people to the polls who have never come before." And finally, he encouraged Spartanburg Democrats who are "with another campaign that's not gaining traction" -- without identifying any specific campaign he may have had in mind -- to turn their support to Clinton.
Charleston attorney Ashley Cooper stood in for U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd and recounted some highlight of Dodd's biography and Senate record, noting Dodd's service in the Peace Corps. Cooper emphasized Dodd's collection of an endorsement from the national firefighters organization, and he said that Dodd had already won two straw polls, one in South Carolina's York County and another in Iowa. To illustrate Dodd's "proven leadership," he imitated retired U.S. Senator Fritz Hollings saying that the Gramm-Rudman balanced budget bill of several years ago was originally known as "Gramm-Rudman-Hollings-Dodd" and that the bill wouldn't have been passed without Dodd.
Actress Kathleen Turner -- the woman behind the cartoon character "Jessica Rabbit" -- brought a moment of star power to the event on behalf of Sen. Barack Obama. Turner said she had supported numerous Democratic candidates and causes throughout her career and had "no affinity for the other party -- I honesty can't tell them apart -- they're all white, old men." Having spent the day with students at the Governor's School for the Arts in Greenville and at the University of South Carolina-Upstate in Spartanburg, she told the audience here that Obama has qualities "unique and most necessary" to address what she called "a mess to clean up when this administration gets the hell out."
Without saying a word about his years of service as an aide to former S.C. Treasurer Grady Patterson, Trav Robertson reminded attendees what it was like to have a state treasurer not under indictment for cocaine trafficking. Here to speak on behalf of Gov. Bill Richardson, Robertson said of the governor the same thing he might've said of Patterson during the 2006 treasurer's race: "This country needs a leader who has experience." Robertson struck the major chords of Richardson's public service: from his appointment as U.N. ambassador, "where he negotiated with the world's tyrants for the release of hostages," to his service in the Clinton Cabinet, to his record as governor of New Mexico, to his four nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize. Then Robertson played a note not yet heard this evening, saying "Bill Richardson will be a good running mate for individuals running for office in South Carolina. He's a candidate folks won't be afraid to run with."
Reese, the state senator from Spartanburg County, served double duty, speaking for U.S. Sen. Joe Biden and filling time until the keynote speaker arrived. He said it was former U.S. Senator Fritz Hollings that "talked Joe Biden into running for Senate when he was only 29 years old." He noted that Biden is "not a millionaire, he's not in it for the money, he's a servant of the people." Reminding the audience that the average per capita income in Spartanburg County is only $26,000, less than neighboring Greenville County's average of $34,000, Reese said there was a great need to create high-paying jobs in the Upstate. To encourage higher education, he said Biden had proposed a tax exemption for college tuition of up to $3,000 annually. "But mostly," Reese said, "he's a stateman. And that's what we really need in Washington: statesmen."
Punctuating Reese's remarks were waves of noise from the back of the small hall, where Kathleen Turner's star power at the Obama campaign table was creating a center of stir with some autograph-seekers and picture-takers. But Reese went on, declaring that Biden was "very electable and has tremendous Republican appeal."
"That's not a negative thing," he cautioned, given that Upstate Republicans were weighing their own paltry options against the more conservative and moderate pickings in the Democratic field. "They are being forced to look at the Democratic candidates. And I've met Joe Biden's children, and his children are supporting him. That's not true on the Republican side."
Continuing to fill time, Reese reminded the audience of the most recent Republican Party embarrassment. Without naming names, he imitated a law enforcement officer "enticing" a U.S. Senator into "a bathroom." As the audience laughed, Reese said his wife would chastise him for the amusement, but said, "It's good to geta cheap shot in at 'em every now and then. They sure take cheap shots when they can." Illustrating his point, he recounted his Senate campaign of 2000, when Republicans spent "$250,000 that I know of, and I beat 'em like a drum. In 2004, they spent $400,000, and I didn't beat them as bad -- only 12 points -- like a soft drum..."
Then Spartanburg County Democratic Party chair Liz Patterson took the stage to announce that Edwards had arrived. She noted, though, that Spartanburg County Republican Party chair Rick Beltram didn't make it to the evening's rally, though he usually attends all Democratic Party public events, "all of our meetings, to tape and record what goes on. If y'all want to send him a sympathy card, that'll be fine," she said.
Introducing Edwards, Patterson admired that after growing up in South Carolina and North Carolina in a home of textile workers, "he's never forgot it." During his six years in the U.S. Senate, Edwards introduced more than 200 bills, she said. Since leaving the Senate, he's directed the Center for Poverty, Work and Opportunity, "three things that Democrats care about," she said. And, drawing the loudest applause of the evening, Patterson reminded the audience that "he's married to Elizabeth."
Once at the podium, Edwards launched into his dialogue with Democrats, committing himself to take on the "entrenched interests" who blocked real health care reform in America, "the drug companies, the insurance companies and their lobbyists."
"Our health costs go up every day because they got their way," he declared. He reminded Democrats of his signature universal health care proposal -- the first to appear among all of the Democratic contenders -- and urged his audience to ask, of all the Democratic hopefuls passing through the Upstate in the coming months, "Does your proposal cover every man, every woman and every child in America?"
And if they say no, he said, "Ask them to explain to you what man, what woman and what child in America doesn't deserve health care?"
As we witness the worst economic inequality since the Great Depression, Edwards said, the Bush administration's policies have only succeeded at worsening the problem. "The very richest are getting wealthier, and everybody else is falling behind."
Among the solutions to the many economic problems, Edwards suggested raising the minimum wage to $9.50 per hour and indexing it so that it increases automatically with other costs. And, he said, "We need to change the law and strengthen the rights of unions to organize in the workplace."
Noting that we're marking the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall, Edwards said that the Bush administration's response to the catastrophe during the past 24 months has been "a national embarrassment. We don't need a surge in Baghdad, we need a surge in New Orleans." Among his proposals: "Instead of hiring Halliburton to come in from outside, why don't we hire the people of New Orleans to help rebuild their city?" he asked. When he led a project bringing 700 college students from across America to spend their spring break helping to rehabilitate homes in the Ninth Ware, Edwards said they didn't see "a single government person" during their time there, while the city still has dire needs to rebuild its infrastructure. "If the president of the United States wanted something to be done, something would get done," he said.
To resolve this and several related problems, Edwards offered what he calls "Brownie's law": "Before you head up a government agency, you ought to be competent to do it." The crowd roared.
Concluding his remarks, Edwards made two promises, both drawing waves of approval. "I was born here, raised in South Carolina and North Carolina, and I will never forget where I came from." Secondly, he declared, "When -- not if, but when -- I am the Democratic nominee, I'll be back in South Carolina, campaigning in the general election." To South Carolina Democrats demoralized by recent campaigns' choices to write off South Carolina as unwinnable, and hungry for opportunities to participate in positive change, his announcement was a surprise and sent the audience chattering.
Before a standing ovation, Edwards left the stage and was mobbed with hugs, handshakes and well-wishes.
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