Steak Fry As High School

If the Democratic party were a high school, the Harkin Steak Fry is the party's version of Homecoming and the different campaigns are classes warring for the spirit stick. 18,000 Democrats thronged the fields of Indianola, to carry signs, bash the Bush administration and eat some steak (grilled not fried) on a hot and sunny Sunday afternoon.

The campaigns, eager to steal the show, competed to be top dog.

Along Route 92, leading into Indianola, the class seniors, the Clinton campaign showed the newbies how it was done. Clinton volunteers were out in shifts starting at 2 a.m. planting yard sign after yard sign along the rural route. They even stole the thunder from their chief rival, the Obama campaign, by having three huge hand made signs saying, VOTE FOR CHANGE.

Inside the Steakfry, Clinton, Biden and Richardsons' campaign staff elbowed each other as they competed to cover the wooden sheds near the entrance with their signs, though they were soon trumped by the events' hosts. Harkin's staff came over and tiled every inch of wood available with blue and white placards that read Harkin for Senate.

Anyone walking into the steak fry was greeted by a column of Hillary Clinton supporters, banging on drums, rattling tambourines and shouting through bull horns. They handed out plastic bullhorns filled with popcorn and bottles of water to cool the weary, as they hiked over the fields to enter the steak fry.

But the made for TV moment was won by the Obama campaign. It wasn't quite the march on Washington, but Barack Obama, leading a column of about a thousand supporters, marched along a dirt road and along the rolling green fields leading into the Steak Fry. He was waving signs, chanting and appearing to present himself as the messiah of "change" and "hope" entering the steak fry with his loyal flock.

The campaign which had created it's own staging area across from the Steak Fry said that they had chosen to make a big entrance simply because they could and this was a sign of the depth and enthusiasm of their grassroots organization. By their numbers, they gave away 2,000 free t-shirts, brough in 15 busloads of Iowans from 10 staging areas across the state, and said that they had 3,000 supporters in total at the event.

Obama who had warmed-up his supporters before he marched over with them to the Steak Fry and sounded like a preacher leading an old fashioned tent revival. He told the crowd not to doubt themselves but intead to "believe in your higher aspirations. Believe in the better angels of your nature."

The message didn't seem to come off as strong at the Steak Fry itself, where he joked with the crowd saying some called him a "hopemonger." He reiterated themes that he's introduced since labor day, saying that years of experience in Washington don't qualify someone to run for president, this time using Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld as examples, though it was missed by few that many of his fellow candidates sitting on the stage behind him were also implicated.

While he referenced the war, he didn't take the chance to dive too far into the stump speech that he's been giving this past week, instead sticking to more general themes - health care, poverty, and the need for unity. It was a strong contrast to Clinton, who offered a much more detailed list of proposals and policies when she took the podium.

In talking to quite a few of the Iowans in attendance, many of them in Obama t-shirts, what struck me most was that they would be happy with any of the candidates running for office. From three African American women who attended Drake University to an undediced non-profit worker to a long-time Iowa Democrat, they were all leaning in the direction of one candidate (in this case Obama) but were enthusiastic about both Clinton and Edwards and said they remained open to all three.

Crystal Nance, 19, from Drake University (who will caucus for the first time in January) said, "It's such a hard choice. Who do you pick? You want to vote for a woman because you're a woman, but then I want to vote for Obama because I'm an African American."

I'm not sure any minds were made up or changed at this event, but it was a fun kick off to what should be long and hard fought season. [ASWINI ANBURAJAN]