It's Pig Heaven for Political Junkies in Iowa
A month to go before the Iowa caucuses, but more importantly, less than two hours to go before the NPR-sponsored Democratic candidate debate. We held one four years ago — hosted by Neal Conan — and my fondest memory is Dennis Kucinich holding up a pie chart to make a point (an interesting tactic in a radio debate). Kucinich is back this year, along with Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, John Edwards, Mike Gravel and Barack Obama; Bill Richardson, also running for the Democratic nomination, had to miss today's debate to attend a funeral.
Speaking of Gravel, the former Alaska senator, I happened to ride in the elevator with him this morning as I was arriving at our work space. And, befitting a political junkie, I found myself having a conversation with him that involved his defeat of Sen. Ernest Gruening in the 1968 primary, his reading of the Pentagon Papers on the Senate floor in 1971, and his defeat of John Birch Society member C.R. Lewis in 1974. It's not everyone I have that kind of conversation with. But it's not every day that you run into a presidential candidate. Unless you're in Iowa.
Anyway, as you trivia buffs know, before our 2004 event, the last radio-only debate among presidential candidates took place in 1948 — a Republican affair between Thomas Dewey and Harold Stassen. Back then, there were very few blog entries.
- Ken Rudin
12:48 PM ET | 12- 4-2007 | permalink
