Joint appearance in Cedar Rapids presents opportunities for Democratic presidential hopefuls

CEDAR RAPIDS - Iowa Democrats are pumping up their sold out Hall of Fame Dinner Friday night as the first time all five of their presidential hopefuls will be on the same program.

'It will be an incredible opportunity for Iowans to hear from the candidates back-to-back-to-back … to hear different visions, to see where they are at,” Iowa Democratic Party spokesman Sam Lau said.

The party faithful apparently agree. More than 1,200 tickets have been sold to the annual event.

However, having the five contenders on the same stage at the Cedar Rapids Convention Center may be the high point of the event.

'I don't expect to be jolted awake by the headlines” the following morning, Drake political scientist Dennis Goldford said.

Still, he added, what makes events like the Hall of Fame dinner interesting is the possibility that a candidate - intentionally or not - does or says something that changes the course of the campaign.

In this case, he'll be watching to see how Clinton deals face-to-face with her rivals.

According to a late June Quinnipiac University Poll, Clinton has the support of 52 percent of likely Iowa Democratic caucusgoers. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, polling at 33 percent has the opportunity to embarrass Clinton, 'which is something she doesn't need,” Goldford said.

Former Gov. Martin O'Malley at 3 percent 'is still not even a speed bump in the road at this point,” he said, and former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb and former Rhode Island senator and governor Lincoln Chaffee are polling at 1 and 0 percent, respectively, are not factors.

So the question for Goldford is whether they will use the dinner as an opportunity to criticize and attack her.

'Or do they pretty well know she's going to be the nominee, but want to draw her out on some things,” he said. 'How much damage are they willing to do to the party?”

Tim Hagle, who teaches political science at University of Iowa, doubts Clinton is vulnerable to the sort of breakout performance by Chaffee - 'Mr. Metric - or the other presidential hopefuls that Barack Obama had at Democrats' 2007 Jefferson Jackson dinner. The Illinois senator seized the moment with a speech that drew sharp - and critical - differences with Clinton.

'It's a whole different dynamic,” Hagle said. This campaign is more like Sen. Bill Bradley's challenge from the left to Vice President Al Gore in 2000, he said.

'Unless there is a huge mistake on the part of Clinton, the others likely don't have much chance” to gain on her,” Hagle said.

Still, the Clinton challengers have to take advantage of the opportunity to 'show off your goods in front of interested activists,” Goldford said.

From his vantage point, Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said the Democratic nomination contest is 'almost like a caucus when you have an incumbent president.”

'I'd rather have the problem I have of trying to sort out the field,” he said about the 15 announced GOP candidates.

Hall of Fame inductees

In addition to hearing from the presidential hopefuls, Democrats will induct seven party members into the Hall of Fame. They include former state legislator and Cedar Rapids Mayor Kay Halloran, Senate President Pam Jochum of Dubuque, former Jones County state legislator Bev Hannon, State Central Committee member Penny Rosjford, Wapello County Democratic Chairwoman Melinda Jones and Chairman of the northeast Iowa Tri-County Democrats Kurt Meyer.

For more on the recipients, visit http://iowademocrats.org/iowa-democratic-party-announces-2015-hall-of-fame-award-recipients/.