Two Democrats and one Republican turned out for a political forum in Davenport on Sunday. Sponsored by a social justice organization, Gamaliel of Illinois and Iowa, Bernie Sanders, John Delaney, and Joe Walsh were given time to make brief statements.
But most of their time was spent answering questions.
"If elected president, will you take action to re-unite families having been separated at the border ?"
"If elected president, will you take action to close the gap on dis-enfranchisement by incentivizing states to adopt policies from the first step, such as easing mandatory minimums in sentencing, and utilizing good time credit systems ?"
"If elected president will you take action to protect communities of color and low income communities all over the nation that are suffering from a lack of accountability from both toxic industries and the elected officials that are supposed to protect us ?"
And their answers were very similar - to protect the environment, restore rights to former prisoners, and how to handle immigration.
Delaney and Sanders have been criss-crossing Iowa for months leading up to the caucuses on February 3rd, while this may have been one of the first campaign visits to the state by Walsh, a former congressman from the Chicago area.
"I'm going to say that right now the Democratic Party is awake, they are engaged, they're educated, they're having a spirited debate about where they are as a party. My party, the Republican Party, is a cult. It is not a Republican Party, it is a party full of people right now that do whatever that guy in the White House tells them to do."
Walsh also won applause from the audience for his answers, very similar to those from Sanders and Delaney.
