With the victory of Senator Jim Webb last November, Democrats in Virginia have officially designated Virginia as a "purple state" and rightfully so. Northern Virginia, outside the suburbs of greater Washington, DC is exploding with economic and population growth. This region is also a hotbed of growing progressive political leanings. At the JJ Dinner featuring speakers Mark Warner, Tim Kaine, Congressman Bobby Scott and Senator Jim Webb, all were in attendance to endorse the candidacy of Senator and Presidential Candidate Barack Obama. This was Obama's first campaign visit to Virginia and the first endorsement from a sitting governor. As Virginia becomes a critical battleground state in 2008, this endorsement is significant.

Senator Obama's speech was poignant and well received by the audience. He frequently referred to education, his life story, and his message and motif of the "audacity of hope" which reverberated well with the crowd. Although it was interesting to see the various Edwards and Hillary supporters in the crowd who came just to see the show, over 25 University of Virginia Democrats came to volunteer at the event to show their support for the rising young star in the Democratic Party. It is worth noting also that there was much speculation at the event that if Obama were to win the Democratic primaries, former governor Mark Warner would be an unbeatable choice for Vice President forming a ticket that would crush any Republican ticket. Warner's enthusiasm, charm, and Bill Clinton-esque personality and political leanings would serve Obama well in Virginia which has a more moderate Democratic Party than say Hillary Clinton's New York base. 

All in all, the dinner was a huge success for Barack Obama. His rising popularity among Democratic primary voters seems only to grow as the field of the Hillary, Edwards, and Obama triumvirate travel the country trying to prove to Democrats and all Americans alike that they are the best candidate to move the country forward, end the war in Iraq, enact universal health care by 2012, and promote economic fairness. It seems from my observations at the College Democrats of America National Leadership Summit, the Democratic National Committee's Winter Meeting, and the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner that the 2008 Democratic candidates are the strongest and most diverse group of candidates that the Democrats have ever seen in American history. This is a testament to not only the changing face of the party but also of society as the possibility of a female or black president becomes ever-more on the horizon of reality.  

Published: February 18, 2007 

Students were out in force this morning at the Democratic National Committee's winter conference here in DC. All the major 2008 primary candidates spoke--we saw Clinton, Edwards, Obama, Dodd, Clark, and Kucinich.

Obama's entrance was electric, and like a rock star, the quieter moments of his performance were interrupted by crazed audience members screaming, "I love you!" and "You're the next president!" But his speech was tall on rhetoric and short on policy. He spoke primarily about "hope," and in what seemed like a dig at Hillary, said, "We don't want another election where voters are holding their noses and feel like they're simply choosing the lesser of two evils." And he reminded us that, unlike Clinton and Edwards, "I was opposed to this invasion--publicly and frequently--before it began."

Speaking of the war, when Clinton took the podium, she was heckled by antiwar folks who demanded that she "bring the troops home now" instead of simply capping the number of them that could be deployed to Iraq. Clinton swore to end the war if elected president, but repeated her talking point about finding the "right end" to the war in Iraq, as opposed to just any end. Despite the drama (or perhaps adding to it), Clinton's level of support in the room was huge: tons of posters and diverse supporters rushing to their feet to cheer her appearance.

Of the three major candidates, Edwards had the least ecstatic welcome, but he enjoyed the most enthusiastic standing ovations as he used anecdotes to illustrate the plight of the poor around the world--from a 5-year old boy in a refugee camp caring for his 2-year old sister, to an 8-year old American girl going to bed hungry, to a father who must take his sick child to the emergency room for basic medical care because the family is uninsured. His call was, "Will you stand up?" And the crowd certainly did, especially when he demanded, "Will you stand with organized labor?"

Dodd delivered a surprisingly energetic call for a return to American greatness in foreign policy. I'm not sure if Dodd's statement on bipartisanship made very much sense--"Bipartisanship for me means getting Republicans to agree with Democratic principles"--but the crowd gobbled it up. Each candidate was allowed up to 100 posters in the ballroom. Fascinatingly, when Dodd finished speaking, a few of his young supporters traded in their "Dodd" signs for "Hillary 08" posters, which, by the way, were being distributed throughout the hall by some attractive young women.