The Ins vs. The Outs

Well, I made my speech to the St. Louis Democratic central committee.  I can't say that I wasn't shaking the whole time, but I got to meet many of the local party luminaries.  Shook hands with Freeman Bosley and Russ Carnahan.  And I had the chance to say my piece.

Seeing the way the thing ran was very interesting.  The Kucinich camp sent along volunteers, as you might expect.  The Clark camp also provided a volunteer -- albeit, a very experienced woman who had served in the Carter Whitehouse.  Both groups did a great job.  And Dean had, well, me.  

On the other hand, Kerry and Edwards both had high-profile paid campaign staff present.  Both were fresh off the Gephardt staff and had innumberable connections to the politicians in the room.

It reinforced everything I've seen in this campaign.  Kerry and Edwards may be quite different as candidates, but when it comes to campaigns, they are both running very traditional shows.  Dean, Clark, and Kucinich are leaning much more heavily on volunteers and are much quicker to give responsibility over to a "no name."

Myself, I've loved the heck out of being in the Dean campaign, and I was thrilled to give the speech this morning -- even if my nerves are still jangling.  My thanks to everyone that offered suggestions on the speech.  Practically every word of what you suggested went into the pot.