I can't exactly say that I got a photo with Senator John Edwards but I did get his autograph and ask him a question. I also got a photo with Steve Forbes and his autograph.
Both Edwards and Forbes answered my question on blogging and I was impressed with the responses. Edwards is a blogger himself. Forbes, while critical of bloggers, said it was a good way to get the information out fast. Edwards said that there are 37 million people out there, living in poverty, that don't have access to the resources.
Senator Edwards is on his poverty tour as we speak. Usually, he'd speak with the bloggers afterwards but he had a flight to catch. He's a great man and a great candidate. He has not made a decision yet. I'm sure he's thinking about it but his issue currently is poverty.
Senator Edwards said that he regretted his vote on the war, and called it a mistake. He has suggested a timetable for withdrawing the troops. He spoke in favor of housing vouchers. He did state at the beginning of his remarks that his wife, Elizabeth, is doing fine. Cate is living in New York and working for Vanity Fare.
I'm not a fan of Steve Forbes, especially with his flat tax policy and his wish to abolish the IRS. Abolishing the IRS would put my family in a lower class as my father is a CPA. Steve Forbes did say that he is no longer running for political office. Forbes did say that we should not withdraw the troops and mentioned nothing of a timetable for the withdraw. Forbes is a fan of charter schools and parental choice.
Before and after the evening lecture, I mingled with the crowd and socialized with friends. Campbell County Democratic Chairman Ken Mullikin and Kenton County Democratic Chairwoman Kathy Groob were both in attendence. If Boone County Chairman Howard Tankersley was there, I didn't see him.
State Representatives were in attendence there and I spoke with a few of them including Tommy Thompson, Majority Leader Rocky Adkins, and Dennis Keene. Chances are that I'll be seeing a lot of them over the years to come. Networking is valuable to future candidates and you know where I stand on that. I mentioned to most of them that I'm heading up Americans for Bayh (don't tell John that!) Thompson was up here just two weekends ago for the leadership summit as the keynote speaker but I just now had the chance to introduce myself.
Unlike last year, I was not a VIP. I hope to be next year though. Chances are I will be a VIP but I have yet to make a decision as to running for the executive board. There are many things that I need to factor into that.
Tonight would have gone better had I had an individual photograph with the Senator but as optimistic as I am, I know there will be another time.
For the first time ever in the history of the TIAA-CREF lecture series, they had notecards with lecture choices for next year: Al Franken/Ann Coulter, Tom Dashcle/Pat Buchanan, Gen. Wesley Clark/George Pataki, Leon Paneta/J.C. Watts, and DeeDee Meyers/Marlin Fitzwater. The choices look interesting. I'm all in favor of meeting Senator Daschle or Al Franken.
Rachael over at DemocraticState has a writeup on the event as well. In the comments, she corrects me that Boone County Chairman Howard Tankersley was in deed in the audience.
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