So, yesterday I was invited by a co-worker to attend part of the Democratic Mayor's meeting during which the Democratic presidential hopefuls would all speak. This was my first chance to see each of them square off, live and in-person. It was well worth it. Below, a few thoughts about each. I'll be updating and adding to this throughout the day, so check back if they're not all there...

John Kerry

Kerry has been getting a bad rep in the press, much like Al Gore. He's described as elitist, as out-of-touch, and as a New England liberal. All of these are code words in the media for "we hate you and we'll stop at nothing to bring you down". A good example can be found in today's washington post article about Kerry in which his policy positions are ridiculed as being a copy of Al Gore's. (The position's themselves aren't really debated, as usual.) When he spoke, however, he seemed like a fairly decent guy. (Remember, the presidency is more about a popularity contest than a "who should lead the nation" contest.) He didn't get terrifically passionate about items, but he looked and spoke like a legitimate presidential candidate. Overall, I still think the press loathing will hurt him, but he wouldn't be a bad person to have as our president.

Dick Gephardt

Gephardt came out of the blocks quickly. He spoke with a fury and passion that didn't relent for his entire period. After Kerry, he seemd much more animated, but like the Senator, he also is fighting against media "conventional wisdom" which says that his time has passed. Why? I'm not sure. But unless he can climb over this hump, (perhaps with a resounding victory in Iowa) he won't make it far. Gephardt spent most of his time decrying the Bush tax cut packages, and reminded everyone of the Clinton budget which raised taxes on the wealthy and helped usher in the largest peacetime economic expansion ever.

Howard Dean

I've been favoring Dean for some time, even before I saw him. His policy positions seemed nuanced but easily communicated, on issues from health care to tax cuts to education funding. His candor was refreshing. (As opposed to Sharpton, Dean's biggest laughs came from his criticism of an actual policy, rather than a strawman.) With so many specific policy recommendations, he was almost the anti-Lieberman, a good thing to be in any race. Finally, he struck a clear distinction between himself and the other contenders, whom he said had failed to take Bush's bad ideas head on. If he were to pick up an early victory in New Hampshire, my guess is that Dean would take fire. Unlike the Bush/McCain rivalry in the last cycle, there's no easy front-runner with loads of cash (yes, I know about Kerry!) who's willing to get down in the muck and sling it at Dean. Call me crazy, but if any Dem did what Bush did in South Carolina to McCain, they'd be crucified in the next primary for their dirty tricks.

Al Sharpton

Sharpton was interesting. Much like all of the candidates, Sharpton's media image is quite different from his personality in public. I was expecting a oratorical genuis who harped about inner-city issues. (This was, after all the Conference of Mayors!) Instead, Sharpton started slowly and constantly checked his notes before saying lines, like the first high-school rehearsal of a Shakespeare play. Seeing him made me realize that I hadn't noticed either Gephardt or Dean using notes during their presentations, which was a major plus. Sharpton didn't actually lay out many policy points at all, which was disappointing, but did manage to get some laughs after he warmed up, especially when he demanded that the government put more cops on the street "to arrest protestors like me". Instead of specific recommendations, he dabbled in the banal tropes of "job-creation", "infrastructure improvement" and a few other notables. To be honest, though, other than Dean I can't remember any real specific policy recommendations from any of the candidates, so it's possible that Sharpton said some things that just weren't memorable.

Joe Lieberman

Lieberman...was awful. He had a cold, which isn't his fault, but his speaking style was simply boring. Halfway through his speech I realized I had completely tuned him out. As fiery as Gephardt got, Joe was mellow. He also, even more so thatn Sharpton, tended to speak in silly cliches and flowery language rather than mention specific policy points. Despite high name recognition, I suspect that Lieberman won't make it far on the campaign trail.

John Edwards

Edwards showed up too late for the main mayoral meeting, although he spoke afterwards. But I didn't see him, so I can't comment.

That wraps up my thoughts. Overall, I was very pleased with Dean, and other than Lierberman or Sharpton, I think any of the choices could theoretically knock Bush off. People underestimate how much Bush resentment there is among the far-left. Now if we could just prevent Nader from running again...