Six Presidential Candidates Speak at 2007 Harkin Steak Fry

Tom Harkin, Dean of Iowa Democrats, often welcomes presidents and presidential candidates to his annual steak fry. However, the September 16 event was the first to bring six presidential candidates to the stage. Against a backdrop of a huge American flag and bales of hay, the six (Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, John Edwards, Barak Obama, and Bill Richardson) spoke for about 10 minutes each to the crow of almost 12,000 attendees.

Before speaking the candidates plunged into the first few rows of seats in the open field, giving attendees the rare opportunity to rub elbows with nearly all of them in a short time. It was almost impossible to talk to them, because enthusiastic paid staff and volunteers chanted the candidates' slogans and were at times louder than a football crowd.

While most candidates spoke about the need for an end to the war in Iraq, the emphasis on the topic varied greatly. First to speak was Barak Obama. He stressed values and principles, but had the least amount on proposed policy changes. He advocated overall change to the "game of politics" and noted that while he has 20 years of public service experience, most has been outside of Washington. Governor Richardson spoke largely on energy policy and the need for greater fuel economy in industry and transportation if the nation is to become less dependent on oil. As did the other candidates in one way or another, he advocated universal access to health care.

Hillary Clinton tackled the "is the nation ready for a woman as president?" issue head-on. Her short answer, of course, was yes. She encouraged voters to be part of history to elect her and then be part of rebuilding the American middle class and reforming government after the harmful years of the Bush administration. She said that the day after the election she would ask distinguished Americans to visit world capitals to let international leaders know that the era of cowboy diplomacy is over.