Last week it was my great fortune to be able to be in Iowa and be a part of seeing history unfold as Senator John Edwards took the 'America Rising' bus tour across Iowa. My husband and I joined the in at the tour stop in Cedar Falls, Iowa on Saturday.
The event in Cedar Falls was very well received and there was a very large crowd as there was in every stop. I tried to get to each event before they speeches began so I could get an opportunity to chat with various Iowans and hopefully get a little bit of feel for their thinking. This was hard but many people were willing to open up and share their feelings whether they were committed supporters (and there were many) of 'still shopping'. I encountered one person leaning toward Bill Richardson but then quickly leaning back toward John Edwards. His rationale was that he liked a few of Richardson's foreign policy position... but then, he really liked Edwards. He liked the fact that Richardson had risen 'a little' in the polls ... but then he liked the fact that John Edwards had risen more and he had more of a chance of winning, in his view. Well, we had a little discussion and I think we agreed that it was okay to like Richardson but there was more that he liked about Edwards and if he counted on splitting it and going Richardson first round and Edwards second (after Richardson lost) that he might end up losing all around. So, rational thought seemed to prevail.
The second stop was Mason City and if I thought Kevin Bacon and John Edwards were 'on a roll' in Cedar Falls, they were just warming up for Mason City. In Mason City we were in something similar to a mall public area. First of all, it was beautiful. Secondly, it was decorated for Christmas very tastefully.
Add to that the fact that we had a great warm up act with Kevin Bacon and his group, and you can hardly wait to hear what John Edwards has to say.
Everyone was thrilled that Elizabeth was there too. The place was literally packed. As far as I could see, they were packed. I don't know if anyone didn't get in or didn't get to see, but it wouldn't surprise me.
The second day we were in Ames for a major speech and again Kevin Bacon, Colfax and on to Ottumwa. All were really good events.
The grand finale came on Monday at noon just before we had to make the mad dash to the airport, but it was worth staying for. I will say that the Steelworkers Union put forth 100% in their support efforts. It will be hard to top the Des Moines Steelworkers Union. There were lots of SEIU supporters and others there too. This was the day when Mari Culver, First Lady of Iowa endorsed John Edwards for President. This was truly and absolutely awesome event and I am so glad I could get it on video to share with everyone. I think there were parts of it on C-Span, but the build up to the main event and the rest of the whole day were absolutely incredible.
Here is the full-length video although I did cut about half of the truly awesome chants by the Steelworkers. What supporters they are!
Here is one of their magnificant chants:
We want Edwards,
We want John.
We want to see him
on the White House Lawn!