Ranking the Speeches at the Iowa Jefferson Jackson Dinner

I attended the Jefferson Jackson on Saturday night in Des Moines. Here are my final rankings of the speeches...

1. Barack Obama - This was the 5th time seeing Obama in person and he gave the passionate, strong speech I have heard. Most in attendance would say he was one of the best and the press, including David Yepsen, declared him the winner too.

2. John Edwards - Led off the night with a riproaring speech that fired up the crowd. However, he was probably hurt by going first on a long night of speeches. He didn't get the media bump, but the 9,000 likely caucus goers left impressed with Edwards. I have seen Edwards 6 times and he nailed the delivery in this speech. I put it right up there with his speech at his campaign announcement in Des Moines back in December.

3. Hillary Clinton - It seemed like a great general election speech. Some have said her new theme "turn up the heat" and exchange with the crowd seemed to rehearsed and robotic. I didn't get that feeling the first time I heard it. She mentioned the support she is getting from red state politicians like Sen. Evan Bayh and Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, but no mention of the Vilsacks.

4. Joe Biden - I didn't understand why he began his speech saying, "Hello, Iowa! Hello, Chicago!" Then I read he was talking to the busloads of people Obama brought in from Illinois and it turned out to be pretty funny. Biden's best part of his speech was when he said he can't wait to debate Republicans on values. Something probably everyone in the audience wants to see happen. Biden showed touted his experience by talking about Pakistan and the need for bipartisan support. In the end, Biden came back to Iraq showing everyone that he is one of the most qualifed to lead on foreign policy. However, I get the feeling Democrats badly want this election to be about mroe than just Iraq and I am afraid Biden can't give that to them.

5. Bill Richardson - Was in a tough situation of following Edwards. Richardson's best moment came when he said he would have all the troops out of Iraq by 2013 and the top candidates aren't sure if they can get that done by 2013. Richardson's support unfurled a banner that read "2013?" to strengthen his point. Drew applause from the audience and from Clinton, when he said Democrats need to keep the campaign positive and discuss the issues.

6. Chris Dodd - Dodd speech just seemed flat. I am not sure if was his spot in the order. He came right in the middle and pretty much everything he said was already mentioned by Edwards, Richardson, or Biden. Or it could have been him following Boswell's auction. Dodd talked about restoring the Constitution, which is mightily important, but seemed to focus on it too long. To top it off, all of Dodd's supporters were in yellow t-shirts, but they seemed to just blend with all of the Clinton supporters wearing yellow shirts also.

Read more coverage at Century of the Common Iowan

We have some great candidates.

I listened to the speech and DID NOT see that ... what did you see since you were there. I thought his speech was GREAT!

His line about taking health care coverage away from Congress if they haven't passed universal health care by July 2009 probably drew the most applause of the night.

but he still didn't really say very much. Also he has an odd, clipped way of talking that eventually gets on my nerves. Somehow it sounds kind of preachy and condescending. I've heard him on talk shows and his natural speaking voice is far more pleasant and real.

Can't warm up to Edwards. Somehow he sounds too much like a salesperson.

Biden's speech had more substance to it, plus it was inspiring as well. He said "ladies and gentlemen" too many times though, but all the candidates are probably getting tired and repetition is bound to set in. Reminds me of Robert Redford in the The Candidate, when he gets burned out repeating the same thing over and over again.

Hillary sounded flat and uninspiring.

Richardson isn't a very persuasive public speaker, so I had diminished expectations.

Dodd has substance, but lacks charisma.

Obviously I am biased towards Biden, but I do listen to the other candidates.