Democracy in Action photos-June 9, 2019 Iowa Democratic Party Hall of Fame Celebration

IDP Hall of Fame Celebration—The Scene Inside: Speeches ... next >

June 9, 2019 - IDP Chairman Troy Price emceed the event, setting the stage n his opening remarks:

Good afternoon Iowa Democrats, how are you?

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the 2019 Iowa Democratic Party Hall of Fame celebration. It is by the way my honor to welcome you to not only the largest, but the longest Iowa Democratic Party Hall of Fame celebration.

This really is a celebration as well. A celebration of our volunteers, a celebration of our leaders, a celebration of the rich diversity that exists within our party. Before we get going. I want to recognize a few folks who are here with us today.

First of all, we have a lot of, several former party leaders, former elected leaders here with us today. Please welcome former Governor and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. Former First Lady Christie Vilsack. Former Lieutenant Governor Patty Judge. Former Congressman Dave Nagel. Former Senate leaders Mike Gronstal and Rob Hogue.

We also have with us today a lot of the great volunteer leaders who make up the backbone of our party. So if you are a county chair, a district chair or a member of our state Central Committee, if you wouldn't mind standing so that we can recognize you for all the hard work and contributions you make to our party.

We are fortunate to have with us today some party leaders that come from outside of Iowa. Please give an Iowa welcome to New Hampshire chair Ray Buckley, Democratic chair Ray Buckley, Minnesota DFL chair Ken Martin, U.S. Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman and Dean Phillips.

Now we know we have a lot of other folks who have made the trek in from outside of Iowa. So we thank you all for being here and we hope you enjoy your time here in the Hawkeye State.

We also have a lot of leaders who are currently right now working very hard in their jobs to make our state—to move our state forward, and to fight for everyone. We have with us two of our newest voices and Washington, Representatives Abby Finkenauer and Cindy Axne. Attorney General Tom Miller. Treasurer Mike Fitzgerald. Our new state Auditor Rob Sand. Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen. As well as legislators, county officials and city leaders. So if you are an elected official—and we have a lot of folks here who are hoping to join their ranks—so if you are an elected official or a candidate running for office please stand so that we can recognize you for all the work you're doing out there.

I want to recognize some of the people who work so hard every day to fight for our workers. We have a lot of representatives from labor here today, we have Planned Parenthood here with us as well, we have environmental groups, we have so many different organizations here today so I want to thank all of you for being here. And we are very fortunate to have with us19 candidates. people who are running for president of the United States.

So I want to thank them and their campaign staffs for being here not only today, but for being here in Iowa, and working so hard across our state to help organize and connect with voters and reach out to people in all corners of our state.

I want to congratulate our award winners today, Fred and Charlotte, Ross, Cindy, Elwood, Olivia, Megan and Sioux County Democrats, all of you represent some of the very best activists and volunteers, not only in our state but in our country. All of you have helped to shape our party and continue to play an integral role in moving our party forward. So on behalf of Democrats everywhere, I want to say thank you. Thank you to all of you for the work that you have done, the work that you continue to do, and the work that you will do to make sure that the Iowa Democratic Party remains one of the best state parties in the country.

And finally, I want to thank all of you for being here. Now as you can tell by the large amount of press we have in the back of the room, and the crowds that you saw when you walked in, this is the largest gathering of presidential candidates of the Democratic primary to date.

And so all of you here, all of you being here today, demonstrates once again that Iowa Democrats take our role as first in the nation seriously. You are here because you want to know more about the candidates. You want to hear about their vision for the future. You want to talk to them about the issues facing our communities, our schools, our rural towns and our urban centers. We begin this presidential process, because of you and the work that you and others like you all across the state do to kick the tires and test our candidates. And we keep this process, because when an Iowa Democrat commits these candidates have discovered and will discover that there are no harder working volunteers in the country than Iowa Democrats.

So I want to thank all of you for being here today and being a part of this process,not only today but every day in your communities. And this year, we certainly have a lot of choices to choose from. You know, there have been some poked fun at the size of our field. Just before I came in here I saw our counterparts over at the Republican Party of Iowa, calling this a circus. Well you know what, we're going to be the ones who are going to have the last laugh, because this outstanding field, this outstanding field of presidential candidates demonstrates the amazing diversity of our party. The diversity of thought, the diversity of experience, the diversity of background. This field demonstrates that we are the party of many, and that everyone has a home in the Iowa Democratic Party.

Now this stands in stark contrast to the Republican Party, because that party has become the party of one, and that one is Donald Trump.

It doesn't matter what Donald Trump does, Republicans continue to stand by him.

He unilaterally announces a trade war on Twitter, and in the process screws over farmers and rural communities, and GOP leaders like Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst continue to stand right by his side.

He alone decides to implement a policy that splits families at the border, with no plan to reunite their parents and their kids, and Republicans cheer.

When he takes action that unilaterally—takes action to systematically destroy the very institutions and values that have made our country the beacon of hope for the world, the GOP says it's about time.

And when he sets an example for our children and for adults that it's okay to bully, to demean, to harass and to attack people just because they might be different than you, they cheer, even louder.

The Republican Party is nothing more than the party of Trump. But while they are the party of one, we are the party of many. I am proud to be a part of a party, I am proud to be a part of a party that embraces our diversity, diversity, that celebrates our diversity. This diversity is our strength, and it is because of that, and the belief that we are better when everyone is doing better, that is why Democrats are going to win up and down the ticket in 2020.

It is why we will take back the legislature.

It is why we are going to win all four seats in Congress.

It is why we are going to send Joni Ernst into an early retirement.

And it is why we will make sure that Donald Trump's party of one only serves for one term, when we turn Iowa blue and take back the White House.

We will do all of that, because of the strength of our party and the strength of our people. So thank you all for being here. Thanks for everything that you folks are doing all across this state and in your communities. And now let's go out and win this thing.

DEMOCRACY IN ACTION TRANSCRIPT

Organizers rigorously enforced the five-minute time limit, starting very loud music if a candidate went on for too long.