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Presidential contenders on long road to Denver

10 Democrats vying for the top of the 2008 ticket

M.E. Sprengelmeyer, Rocky Mountain News

Published February 3, 2007 at midnight

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WASHINGTON - The long road to Denver started Friday in the basement ballroom of the Hilton Washington hotel.

One by one, presidential contenders at the Democratic National Committee's winter meetings braved a smattering of hecklers to say why they should lead the party's White House ticket in 2008.

It was the start of a long, laborious drive for the 10 people who now top the Democratic field. It won't end until August, 2008, when candidates reach the Pepsi Center for the Democratic National Convention.

With so many speakers, it was hard not to compare the event to the first-round of auditions for a talent show.

"Sometimes, you feel like you're part of a reality TV show," Illinois Sen. Barack Obama said when he got his turn in the spotlight.

"But that's not why I'm here," he said. "This is not a game. It's not a contest for the TV cameras. This is a serious moment for America."

Obama stirred the crowd. But so did Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York; former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina; Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut; Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio; and retired Gen. Wesley Clark of Arkansas.

On tap for today: Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware; Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico; former Sen. Mike Gravel of Alaska; and former Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa.

National committeewoman Debbie Marquez of Edwards wasn't picking any favorites after the first day of speeches.

"As a DNC member I think, 'Let's see what our candidates bring us,' " she said.

What they brought was a full spectrum of speaking styles and all manner of criticism for President Bush and his war strategy.

"I'm Hillary Clinton and I'm running for president," New York's junior Senator opened, as if hundreds of cheering partisans had never heard her name. "I'm here to start a conversation with our country because we've got to admit to ourselves that things are just not right," Clinton said.

Like the others, Clinton called for ending the war in Iraq. But there was scattered heckling from anti-war activists, who want Clinton to go beyond criticism and block funding for a build-up of 21,500 more troops.

Edwards said it was a "betrayal" if the new, Democratically controlled Congress didn't get more forceful on Iraq.

"We cannot be satisfied by passing non-binding resolutions," he said.

Dodd has sounded a similar tone, and next week he'll be in the Senate fighting what he considers watered-down language in a resolution opposing the troop buildup.

"A year ago, President Bush's approval rating stood at 40 percent. His party was in revolt and the vice president just shot somebody," Dodd told the crowd. Thanks to Democratic leaders and American voters, Dodd said, "President Bush now refers to those days as the 'good old days.' "

Retired Gen. Wesley Clark told the crowd he feels pain every time he reads the Iraq casualty reports.

"To be honest with you, I get a little bit angry - angry because in America today, we have a president who mistakes stubbornness for strength and slogans for strategy."

Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, entered the hall to a slow, somber version of "America the Beautiful." Then he repeated the anti-war message he first used in his long-shot 2004 campaign.

"This war would have never occurred in the first place if I had been president," Kucinich said. "We don't have to wait until 2009, until I'm inaugurated as president, to end it."

On domestic issues, the candidates appeared near-unanimous in calling for some version of universal health care coverage, changes in education and energy policy, and other planks. Differences in the details can come later.

An introductory speech by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid spoke volumes about what the "road to Denver" means. Reid, a native of Searchlight, Nev., touted his state's earlier presidential caucus and the decision to put the national convention in Denver as Democrats' great, electoral hope.

"These are not symbolic decisions," Reid said. "These are very important, strategic moves. If you can win in Nevada, you win in the West. If you win the West, you win the White House in 2008."

And with that, the race for Denver was on.