1 Republican, 3 Democrats speak at dinner

Republican presidential candidate John Cox addresses the crowd at the Sisters on Target annual banquet held at the Downtown Holiday Inn in Des Moines on Saturday.

By JENNIFER JACOBS
REGISTER STAFF WRITER

This article originally appeared in The Des Moines Register (original article)

October 14, 2007

It was a tough crowd Saturday night - at least for the sole Republican who spoke at a dinner for Sisters on Target, a nonpartisan alliance of black women, in Des Moines.

Three Democrats attended: Joe Biden, a senator from Delaware; Hillary Clinton, a senator from New York who is the Democratic front-runner both nationally and in Iowa; and Barack Obama, a senator from Illinois.

The night started off well for Republican businessman John Cox of Chicago. He got a laugh when he said: "I'm not a celebrity. You won't see me on 'Law & Order' tonight."

He added: "So who am I? I'm one of you."

Cox said he has four daughters, a wife and a female dog. He said he built up a business from nothing. He said he belongs to a church. He said he grew up a Democrat, the son of a mother who taught at an all-black school.

He ran into trouble when he gave his reason for running for president: "Because for 20 years we've had nothing but Bushes and Clintons in the White House. With all due respect to Senator Clinton, she's a lovely lady, but I think in a country of 300 million people we ought to be able to do something better than Bushes and Clintons."

That was met with murmurs of displeasure and scattered, weak applause.

"Yeah, he messed up. Not going to vote for him," said Artelia Hoffman, a retired teacher aide from Des Moines. "He might as well sit down."

Obama said nearly the same thing minutes later.

"There are a lot of good candidates in this race, and I admire them all, but the fact is that we've been hearing the same thing from Republicans and Democrats for the last 30 years," he said. "The question is not who can say the right words but who will have the judgment and courage to act on those words, even when it's inconvenient."

He got a roaring standing ovation.

Obama, who picked up an endorsement Saturday from state Rep. Ako Abdul-Samad, his 14th endorsement from an Iowa lawmaker, said he has stood up for African-Americans all of his life, first as a community organizer, then as a civil rights lawyer, then as a politician.

"I will not be a perfect president, but I promise you this: I will always tell you what I think. I will always tell you where we stand," Obama said during a speech that stretched more than 21 minutes. "I won't just tell you what you want to hear."

Biden was fresh from an unusual cross-party news conference with Republican presidential candidate Sam Brownback, a senator from Kansas, that advertised their togetherness on a plan to split Iraq into three states overseen by a decentralized federal government.

But when Biden took the podium directly after Cox, the first words out of his mouth were: "My name's Joe Biden, and I'm not a Republican."

The room erupted in laughter, then was hushed for the rest of a 17-minute speech that was at some times whispered and at others punctuated with fist-pounding.

Biden, who has 11 endorsements from Iowa lawmakers and has spent 51 days campaigning in Iowa, made a point to claim former President Bill Clinton as a friend.

"I spent the bulk of my adult life working (with) the black community, I worked in the projects as a kid running a pool. I worked for the parks system. I was a public defender. And I've worked with the African-American community every, single day since I've been president," Biden said. "Excuse me, since I've been a senator."

Clinton told the crowd she has the experience to address America's problems and bring its troops home "as quickly and carefully and responsibly as possible."

"If you need something done, ask a busy woman to do it," said Clinton, who has been endorsed by 16 Iowa lawmakers.

Clinton said she knows how hard the job of president can be.

"I'm sure going to need your prayers, on a not daily basis but probably a minute-by-minute basis."

Her speech took the allotted 15 minutes, then she left the banquet before Obama arrived. It was her 36th day of campaigning in Iowa this year.

Mildred Otis, 87, of Des Moines said she feels an obligation to support Obama, who has spent 49 days in Iowa so far.

"But Hillary, she's got it all together," she said.

Reporter Jennifer Janeczko Jacobs can be reached at (515) 284-8127 or jejacobs@dmreg.com