[applause] please welcome our county chair. Hello, iowa. Fellow democrats from across america. All 50 states of america, welcome to polk county. Celebration for our Democratic Party. Together, we will get to meet 17 candidates who are leading a conversation about the future of our party and our country. One of these 17 people will be our next president. They say bad weather brings good luck, and it rained like heck at last years steak fry, and then we won back the congress. I hope the weather we have today is going to win us back the white house next year. Before we get started, please join me in welcoming the elected officials and candidates who are here today. Usually, we read all their names at our events, but obviously this is a little bit eager, so we are not going to go through all hundred of them. Please join me in welcoming them here today. Welcoming join me in five of our newer steak fry leaders. Lindsay paulson and peter crane are our steak fry chairs. Our executive director
County democratic steak fry. We are going to show you some of the comments now beginning with Michael Bennet and former hud secretary, julian cstrastro. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Family here today, iowa democrats, if we do our job, 400 days from today, we can send donald trump back to maralago long,d, and end, the National Nightmare we are facing and save our democracy. I am Michael Bennet and it is great to be here. Thank you. [cheers and applause] i am not a career politician. I was in business saving jobs and then was the superintendent of the Denver Public schools, a large, urban School District where most of the kids live in poverty but have the exact same dreams as my kids. I have been in the Senate Facing tough elections in a purple state. 10 years ago, when i got back to washington, i thought what i would find is the bedrock of our democracy. The government of the people, by the people, and for the people. And instead, what i found was steve king. And mitch mcconnell. Characters