National Public Radio (NPR)
December 3, 2007 Monday
SHOW: News & Notes 9:00 AM EST
Dems Running Political Marathon in Iowa
ANCHORS: FARAI CHIDEYA
LENGTH: 1515 words
FARAI CHIDEYA, host:
From NPR News, this is NEWS & NOTES. I'm Farai Chideya.
…You talk to a lot of Iowans, some say they are voting for Barack Obama because he
would, you know, change the face of America. A lot of people like Bill Richardson
because of his ethnicity. But a lot of people say that they just want the best
candidate. So for Edwards to kind of come down one way or the other, I think, is
something that might've made his campaign a little nervous.
And just to see how sensitive this has become - at Iowa State University,
about 45 minutes north of Des Moines, last week, there was some pretty
distasteful literature on signs around campus, calling for people to vote for
John Edwards, the white man. It referred to Hillary Clinton in a very
derogatory way, used a racist word about Barack Obama. So this is getting
to be a sensitive issue and I think Edwards wanted to be very, very careful.
CHIDEYA: You also have a situation where there's a question of what different
positions that these candidates occupy bring to the table. And you had Governor
Richardson questioning Hillary Clinton.
Governor BILL RICHARDSON (Democrat, New Mexico; Presidential Candidate): Don't
you think that governors make good presidents? And...
(Soundbite of cheering)
Gov. RICHARDSON: I mean, that's a...
Senator HILLARY CLINTON (Democrat, New York; Presidential Candidate): I also...
Gov. RICHARDSON: But I like to - I'd like to yield the rest of my time to supplement
your answer.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Sen. CLINTON: Well, Bill, I think they also make good vice presidents.
CHIDEYA: Isn't it a fact that governors do have easier time, at least, historically than
senators in getting into presidential office.
GREENE: They do. Bill Richardson had a very good point. And I think, you know, he
brought that up there with Hillary Clinton, you know, since President Bill Clinton was
a former governor. And Hillary Clinton was ready with a response, saying, you know,
there are other positions that governors might have. But certainly, governors more
recently have been more likely to become president than members of Congress.
It was funny. There were some light moments in this debate after a lot of pretty
bitter moments recently in the Democratic race - a lot of attacks, a lot of attacks on
Hillary Clinton.
In addition to this sort of funny moment, Barack Obama and John Edwards shared a
few minutes on the stage. John Edwards was talking about race and minimum wage
being one way to help minorities in the country. He said to Barack Obama, you
know, senator, you've spoken about these issues passionately. Our voices together
are stronger than when they're separate. And would you stand with me and say that
you would support raising the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour if you were
president? Obama said that he would.
So these two candidates are really getting along on the stage. As Hillary Clinton, the
other person, the three-way sort of close race with them was standing there
watching.
CHIDEYA: Sounds like someone's making nice. David...
GREENE: Sounds like it for one night.
(Soundbite of laughter)
CHIDEYA: David, thank you so much.
GREENE: My pleasure, Farai.
CHIDEYA: That was NPR correspondent David Greene. Tune in on Wednesday when
we speak with NPR's Michele Norris. On Tuesday night, she's co-moderating the NPR
Democratic Debate in Iowa.