Posted on 05/13/2007 4:19:13 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
Gwen Moore likes hearing John Edwards talk about poverty in America. She likes the idea that Hillary Clinton is "breaking barriers" as a woman contending for the White House.
"But this is a primary, and you choose people you love the most at first blush," said Moore, the congresswoman from Milwaukee, who is backing Illinois Sen. Barack Obama for 2008.
Moore's contentment with the Democratic field is not unique in her party. National and state polls suggest there's a lot more happiness among Democrats than Republicans with their 2008 choices. In one Wisconsin poll last week, Democratic voters were almost three times more likely to be satisfied with their candidates than Republicans were.
As Democratic politicians, activists and donors in Wisconsin begin to take sides in the '08 campaign, it is becoming clear that each of the three leading contenders - Clinton, Obama and Edwards - will have significant, high-profile political support in the state.
Edwards, who finished a strong second in the 2004 Wisconsin primary, has a relatively active volunteer base, is drawing from both labor and former Howard Dean supporters, and has the dean of the state's congressional delegation, Wausau Congressman Dave Obey, in his corner.
Clinton remains a towering name and figure in the party, and leads in Wisconsin polls, as she does nationally. Her statewide campaign is expected to be headed by Lt. Gov Barb Lawton, though Lawton declined to comment last week on whom she is supporting and what role she might play.
Meanwhile, Obama has made by far the biggest single show of strength here, drawing 4,000 free and paying customers to the Milwaukee Theatre last month, and a broad mix of prominent insiders and donors to a high-dollar fund-raiser in River Hills the same day.
"Wisconsin is ripe for the picking. Right now I think Obama has put the most into Wisconsin and got the most out of it," said Mike Tate, who ran the Dean campaign in the state four years ago and is neutral so far in this race.
Anything the candidates do in Wisconsin at this early stage has very limited electoral significance; other states with earlier primaries and caucuses will decide whether Wisconsin's Feb. 19 presidential primary means anything, and what kind of shape the contenders are in when they get to the state.
But the perceptions of party regulars and insiders here are a microcosm of what's happening nationally in the party.
Based on interviews with Democratic activists in the state over recent weeks, here are some observations:
Obama, Clinton and Edwards are capturing by far the most support and attention, though the fourth name that comes up is that of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. The top three contenders all appear broadly acceptable within the party. In that sense, the Democratic contest is not proving to be very polarizing so far: The candidates' appeal does not always track with clear political fault lines among Democrats.
Likable candidates
"This is an unusual field. . . . There's not one of them I would be uncomfortable with," said Stan Gruszynski, a member of the Democratic National Committee from Porterfield.
"I don't see one part of the party, the left or right or center, really being drawn into any specific camp," said Michael Maistelman, a politically active Milwaukee lawyer.
"People like having this kind of problem," said Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, referring to the Democrats' choices. Cieslewicz is supporting Edwards. Along with Clinton, Obama, Edwards and Richardson, the candidates are Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich and former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel.
Besides Obey and Cieslewicz, Edwards has been endorsed by state Treasurer Dawn Marie Sass, former Gov. Tony Earl and 11 state legislators. (Edwards plans to visit Milwaukee in June, supporters say.)
Obama has picked up endorsements from Moore, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and Milwaukee Common Council president Willie Hines, among others.
Clinton hasn't done a Wisconsin endorsement rollout but is expected to do so soon.
While many big party names, including Gov. Jim Doyle and Sens. Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl, remain neutral, Democratic officials and activists are picking sides much earlier in this race than in previous ones.
Wide appeal
Obama's April 16 visit was an eye-opener for political observers, because of the sheer number of people he drew to his low-dollar fund-raiser and the eclectic "Who's Who" of insiders who paid $1,000 or more to mingle with him at a private home in River Hills.
"That was an extraordinarily successful event," said Bob Friebert, a veteran party activist and donor who is staying out of the race in case his favorite, former Vice President Al Gore, makes a late entry.
"It was really incredible to me to see he filled that huge theater in Milwaukee at $25 a head, then he filled another large home in River Hills at $1,000 a head," said Tate, who said Dean lacked that sort of double-barreled appeal (to both the grass roots and the deep pockets) in the last race.
Organizers said they were initially asked to raise $100,000 and ended up raising more than $250,000.
Maistelman, who is uncommitted, described the River Hills crowd as a diverse blend of Democratic loyalists and non-partisan, even Republican-leaning, business people.
Peter Mahler, a Milwaukee entrepreneur and business owner who describes himself as a "classic Republican," went to hear Obama at a friend's invitation.
Mahler said he is still eyeing candidates in both parties, but he described Obama as having broad appeal beyond party labels.
"He appears to be a uniting force versus a polarizing force," said Mahler. "We need to find the person a majority of this country will support and respect and honor so we can move this nation forward."
Favoring Obama
Obama is also drawing liberal backing. A longtime, prominent Democratic donor, Bonnie Joseph, hosted Hillary Clinton in her Fox Point home two years ago, raising money for Clinton's re-election to the U.S. Senate. But she's supporting Obama in the presidential race, serving on the host committee for his April fund-raiser in River Hills. Joseph says she'd have no problem with Clinton as the nominee. But she cites Obama's personal qualities and freshness.
"Sometimes there a slick-a-tude you see with other candidates who have done this over and over again. His answers are not so pat," she said.
Moore said her own support for Obama goes well beyond any interest she has in seeing a strong African-American contender.
"I guess I've gotten old enough to realize every brother ain't a brother," said Moore, 56. Among other things, she said she sees Obama as someone who could change the way the rest of the world looks at America.
"I think he has a universal appeal," she said.
Moore said that while "really proud of...Hillary as a viable female candidate," she was not a huge fan of her husband's presidency, which she associates with the Democratic Leadership Council.
"She's sort of a centrist. The DLC sort of politics is not as attractive to me," Moore said.
Clinton's electability
But if Clinton is not the dominant figure in the race she was once expected to be, many Democrats interviewed for this story also downplayed her potential liabilities inside the party, including concerns about her 2002 vote to authorize force in Iraq and worries about her electability.
"I think there's still concern, but I think it's lessened," Friebert said of the electability question.
Matt Flynn, a well-known Democratic lawyer who is a point man for the Clinton effort in Wisconsin, said he expected Clinton to visit the state this summer, and "if Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton came to this state they could turn out thousands of people, too."
Said Flynn: "There's a phenomenon, certainly in the Democratic Party, a kind of star-struck glitz phenomenon. Howard Dean had that in '04. Obama has that right now. Early on, there are people who, when the stars align and someone catches the crest of the wave, they're for that candidate. Sometimes that candidate wins, sometimes that candidate does not win."
Ooops. Sorry. Wrong Clinton.
Gwen Moore is therefore a fool with very low standards.
Here’s a thought - if Hillary gets in, she’ll be so petrified at being a one term president, she’ll publicly dance the quickstep in Orwellian double-speak around every difficult issue. She’ll either do nothing or stay the course on the surface, but her liberal cronies work behind the scenes, under the radar, to implement her sleezy agenda. Watch for some frightening female appointments regarding the judiciary, national and homeland security and defence. The media will hail her as a visionary. Where’s that bucket...
Gwen Moore probably just likes his hair. This quote:
“But this is a primary, and you choose people you love the most at first blush,” said Moore, the congresswoman from Milwaukee, who is backing Illinois Sen. Barack Obama for 2008.
??? Now THERE’S a “cult of personality” thing going on there.
Ah, yes, Supreme Solar Allah. Moonbat don’t fall far from da momma.
Most of us probably have pretty strong stomachs. ‘Twould seem to me that there are entirely too many unnecessary barf alerts. Surely we can tolerate pap like this without the fear of upchucking.
Oh, sure! And if I HADN’T added a “Barf Alert” you would’ve been all over me for that too, LOL! :)
I do have a strong stomach. I live in Dane County, Wisconsin.
‘Land of the Freaks, Home of the Hippies.’ ;)
Catfish find their choices appealing too. Mmm, bottom food.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Puh-leeeze! Don’t even think about Her Royal Thighness as president. We’ve got to get behind the GOP candidate after he’s nominated and put all bickering aside at that point - regardless of his warts. None of the GOP contenders is perfect, but all of them are clearly superior to The Witch and her ‘Rat colleagues, especially on protecting the US from Islamofascism.
You got it. Of course they're more content with their choices because all their contenders are essentially the same ideologically. The Republican field is much more diverse in their views, so the choice for us is more difficult and causes more angst.
I really wonder about the mental competence of Democrats. The three main candidates are complete nonentities who have accomplished virtually nothing in their combined careers.
Whatever you might say about the top Republicans, Fred, Rudy, McCain, and Romney all have major accomplishments on their resumes.
The democrats have been “fighting” poverty for forty years and have only succeeded in creating a permanent poverty industry which seems only to prolong poverty.
I find the Democrat choices appalling.
Not at all. I’m sick of barf alerts. I’m a big boy. (Way too big.) I can take it.
Definitely pod people!
The Democrat Party is desperate to win next year. They would support the devil to get back into power. I as a proud conservative will not. I want a true conservative. As for Gwen Moore, just another member of the liberal media.
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