The media here in North Dakota just broke the news (from the Bismarck Tribune):
Democratic presidential contender Sen. Hillary Clinton will speak at the North Dakota Democratic convention Friday immediately following a speech by frontrunner Sen. Barack Obama.
Clinton’s speech at 8 p.m. at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks was announced Monday afternoon by the state Democratic Party.
Anybody with a ticket to Obama’s previously announced 5:30 p.m. speech will automatically get to stay for Clinton’s speech.
Tickets are free and can be obtained at http://www.democrats.org/...
This is the first visit to North Dakota by either candidate this election cycle.
On Feb. 5, Obama won North Dakota’s caucus with 61 percent of the vote to Clinton’s 36.5 percent.
The news of Clinton's appearance comes nearly 2 weeks after the North Dakota Democratic party announced that Barack Obama would be the keynote speaker for their convention - and only after the news of an Obama appearance swamped party headquarters with requests for tickets. (The party expected all 14,000 tickets to be grabbed quickly even before news of the Clinton appearance.)
I'm taking my 10 year-old son, along with 2 other Obama supporters - and we won't be sticking around to hear Hillary speak.
As a matter of fact, it will be interesting to see how many people do actually stick around to hear Hillary. (She's not exactly loved in these parts).
I'm not sure who actually invited Hillary (and I can't say for sure if she invited herself), but I do know who invited Obama to speak, and who supports him from the North Dakota delegation in Washington (from the ND Dem-NPL Party Blog):
Senator Obama was invited to the Dem-NPL convention by Senator Kent Conrad, who had endorsed Obama in December, prior to Obama’s surprising victory in the Iowa caucuses. Obama has since won the endorsement of Senator Byron Dorgan, Rep. Earl Pomeroy, and three other North Dakota super-delegates.
Here are some comments from the ND Senators and Congressman (also from the ND Dem-NPL Party Blog):
"Senator Obama is a person of rare quality, and his message of can-do optimism and hope is one that I believe resonates in North Dakota. He shares our Midwestern values, and he can unite this country," said Senator Conrad. "Senator Obama has shown that he has what it takes to win in states like North Dakota, Minnesota and Wyoming. He’s drawn more people to the democratic process, and that can only be good for the country."
Senator Dorgan said: "Senator Obama has an extraordinary ability to inspire and motivate people throughout the country, and it is wonderful that he is planning to attend North Dakota’s state Democratic Convention. Like many other states, North Dakota has responded to Senator Obama’s message of hope and optimism by giving him an impressive 62 percent of the vote in our caucus this year. His presence shows that he intends to compete nation-wide for the Presidency, which is good for the country, democracy, and North Dakota."
"North Dakota Democrats showed their strong support for Senator Obama on February 5th, and I’m thrilled to have the potential Democratic presidential nominee as the keynote speaker at our convention," Congressman Pomeroy said. "Senator Obama has a powerful message of hope and change that resonates across party lines and across the country. I look forward to hearing him deliver that message to North Dakota Democrats at our convention in April."
It was former North Dakota Governor, George Sinner (a longtime friend and supporter of the Clintons), who made the announcement on WDAY radio shortly after 1 p.m. today, so I'm thinking that he may have been the one to invite Hillary (and to push for her appearance).
There was a lot of excitement when it was announced that Obama was going to be speaking. Jamie Selzer, executive director of the North Dakota Dem-NPL Party shared that excitement when he said:
"The fact that Senator Obama is keynoting our convention on the first day will cause a huge level of excitement that will last throughout the weekend."
Well, now that Hillary will be following up Obama's appearance, I'm not too sure that the level of excitement will remain so high. It's just that Hillary's appearance at the last moment has the feel of someone crashing a good party. We'll be going from "Yes We Can" and "Change We Can Believe In" to.... well, you know - "HILLARY".
You can't blame the Clinton campaign - a crowd of about 21,000 is expected to be there to hear Obama speak, and I'm sure that she would love to be able to speak to a crowd even half that size at this point in time.
But I'm not so sure that showing up on the same night as Obama will be the best thing for Hillary's campaign (especially if those who waited hours in line to hear Obama end up heading out in droves after he's done).
It could prove to be very embarrassing for Hillary to end up speaking to a half-full (or less) arena after Obama has spoken to a full house. And that's likely to be the case.
We expect to get in line at about 1:30 (doors open at 3:30) - and I'm sure we won't be alone. It's general seating, so the best seats will go to those who get there earliest!
Hillary isn't scheduled to speak until 8 p.m. - and it's likely that only the most dedicated die-hard Hillary fans will stick around that long. (And if the caucuses here proved anything, the Hillary die-hards are few and far between).
Anyways, we plan to have a Barack party - Hillary or not!
GO OBAMA!