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It’s been a long time coming. A campaign that began in the cornfields of Iowa more than a year ago is about to touch Hudson Valley residents in a very real and personal way as New York’s presidential primary is held this (super) Tuesday. (For more information about Primary Day, see story below).
With the hours dwindling down to a precious few, local advocates for the various Democratic candidates made their cases in a presidential forum held at a packed Avery Hall theater on the Vassar College campus on Jan. 28. In an interesting coincidence the forum, co-sponsored by the Town of Poughkeepsie Democratic Committee and the Vassar College Democratic Committee, was held as President George W. Bush delivered his final State of the Union address.
With more than 125 students and community members filling the theater, there was a palpable excitement for not only the primary, but the November general election, as Democrats eagerly anticipate taking back the White House after eight years of the Bush administration.
Town of Poughkeepsie Democratic Chairman Bob Gephard expressed the confidence that many Democrats are feeling, both locally and nationally.
“Change is in the air and it’s been here for a few years. Tonight, we are at the end of eight long years. We are not here to decide which party is going to be in the oval office, I think we know which party that is going to be, it’s a matter of which candidate will be seated in the Oval Office,” said Gephard.
The sitting president was a popular target for those gathered.
“A lot of people have a calendar counting down the days until Christmas. I have a calendar in my office counting down how many more days of Bush we have to deal with,” said Town of Poughkeepsie Supervisor Patricia Myers.
The three surrogates for the candidates made short statements to the audience before fielding questions collected from the audience and read by Vassar College political science professor Sidney Plotkin.
Former Dutchess County Legislator Fred Knapp spoke on behalf on former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, who suspended his campaign two days after the event. Knapp lauded Edwards and his focus on economic justice.
“We have 37 million poor people in the United States; in one of the richest nations in the history of the world. John Edwards has made that the single biggest priority of his presidential campaign,” said Knapp.
Teacher Vicky Pittman spoke on behalf of New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, emphasizing her candidate’s commitment to education. She noted that Clinton received the endorsement of the American Federation of Teachers. Pittman said Clinton shared her distain of the No Child Left Behind act.
“She understands that if you’re going to have a federal mandate than you have to fund it,” said Pittman.
Longtime political and community activist Fritzy Goodman, who is running as a delegate for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, said her candidate was a unique, dynamic candidate, the likes of which do not come around often.
“He’s the candidate we’ve all been waiting for. He has the intelligence, work ethic and most importantly he going to keep his word. He has the ability to inspire and unify across partisan, cultural and generational lines,” she said.
During the course of the evening, the representatives addressed audience questions relating to foreign policy, health care, the economy and the environment. Where more detail was needed they urged the audience to visit their candidates’ Web pages.
