'Plenty of awesome' at Dem. convention

This column comes in the afterglow of the 2008 California State Democratic Convention, which took place in San Diego this past weekend. The usual huge crowds came out for the booths, speakers, and of course, the hospitality suites, but these crowds also saw something else: the strongest field of candidates in the recent history of the Democratic party.

The excitement was palpable throughout the convention, with everyone in attendance sporting the stickers and buttons of one or more candidates. Everywhere you turned, there was someone with a different opinion about who would make the best candidate. There was something, however, that just about everyone in attendance could agree on: There was plenty of awesome among the presidential candidates that spoke this weekend.

The first candidate to address the convention was Hillary Clinton who, love her or hate her, is still much beloved amongst the 50-year-old woman wing of the Democratic Party. Yes, the youth support for Hillary was lukewarm at best, but her speech still lit up the convention center.

Although largely considered the most polarizing candidate in the race, this past weekend made abundantly clear that love for her still runs deep amongst older Democrats. Attracting the young voters who weren’t around for the Clinton years of the 1990s will be critical for Hillary to build the movement it will take to carry her current lead through to the primaries. Right now, she doesn’t have it. Clinton’s speech was strong, for the most part, although she faltered somewhat when discussing the details of her plans for education and Iraq. She will need to get a stronger grasp of these details before she gets my vote.

Next came the certified rock star of the convention, Barack Obama. The excitement, energy, and pure adoration that the crowd heaped upon Barack seemed ready to blow the roof off the convention center. Simply put, people love this guy. Obama spoke clearly and powerfully, showing off the speaking skills that have sent his stock skyrocketing in the Democratic Party.

As has been the main strategy of his campaign, Obama relied on his charisma and force of personality over actual details to win the crowd, which works just fine this early in the primary campaign. However, developing a strong, detailed platform to run a presidential campaign on will be crucial if Obama hopes to win the Democratic nomination. Otherwise, I think he’ll make a great vice president.

Saturday finished out with speeches by Chris Dodd and Dennis Kucinich, two presidential candidates whose campaigns are purely quixotic at this point. Both candidates are trailing far behind in fundraising, and barely register a blip in national or statewide polls. Realizing that, both candidates took the liberty to set some fairly unrealistic goals, like Dodd’s proposed carbon “tax” on industry and Kucinich’s Department of Peace.

Most in the crowd agreed with just about all that these candidates were saying – they just didn’t see them as having a chance. As such, there was plenty of cheering when these candidates brought up the Iraq war and fixing the egregious damage the Bush administration has done to the United States. Just don’t expect either of them to get many votes.

The convention was noticeably smaller and quieter on Sunday, an unfortunate byproduct of the long schedule for Friday and Saturday.

By the time John Edwards took the podium, however, that lull turned into a roar. He delivered a stirring speech, calling for an immediate beginning to the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, the restoration of the United States to a position of global leadership and claimed that he would close Guantanamo Bay on the first day of his presidency.

He also floated a few new intriguing proposals, including an international partnership to provide primary education for every child in their world, as well as one million new housing vouchers that would provide poor and middle class families the opportunity to live in newer, higher income neighborhoods. By the end of Edwards’ speech, there was a sense that something had happened at the convention – I spoke personally with several people who, after seeing the speech said, “I’m convinced.” Edwards’ speech this past weekend may very well be seen a turning point in this campaign, a point when he elevates himself above the other candidates in the race.

This convention was the perfect indicator of the energy and support that the current crop of Democratic presidential candidates has. Only time will tell, but one thing is for sure: One of these candidates will become the next president of the United States.

Zach Austin is a political science junior and Mustang Daily political columnist.