Dispatches from the Washington ("Hinckley") Hilton

It won't be long before we know which two candidates will square off in the 2008 presidental election. This past weekend was the first step towards deciding who will represent the Democratic Party. And I was there.

(My Blue Jersey blog brother JRB reports, via dKos)--

Over at Blue Jersey, we shot nearly two dozen short videos at the 2007 DNC Winter Meeting. We talked to a lot of presidential candidates, a few strategists, and some members from New Jersey. Bloggers' Row was set up right in the middle of the lobby, which was noisy, but fun. We enjoyed meeting everybody. The best part of Bloggers' Row's placement was that random people came over and chatted us up. We met delegates, College Democrats, Young Democrats, guests and other people from Florida, California, Colorado, Wisconsin, Michigan, Oregon, and more.

Of the headliners, we didn't get to talk to everybody, but we really appreciated those who made time for us. In order of appearance, we had:

• General Wesley Clark came by to say hi and talk about his potential candidacy. Since he was the first one to come over after a few others spoke and didn't (or couldn't), he took us by surprise.
• A short time later, we caught Representative Dennis Kucinich in the lobby. He's coming to Garden State Equality's annual Legends Dinner next month, so we asked for his opinion on the NJ civil unions legislation.
• Our neighbor to the south, Senator Joe Biden stopped by early on Saturday morning to have a few words with us.
• Former Senator Mike Gravel also had some things to say.
• Former Governor Tom Vilsack told us why his candidacy is different, along with what kind of taffy he liked as a kid. We enjoyed what Jay Lassiter coined as 'Populist Popcorn.'
• Finally, Governor Bill Richardson made an appearance, and he was a lot of fun.

Of the strategists we were able to talk to, we ran into Virginia's Dave "Mudcat" Saunders early Friday morning. He wanted to give us his two cents on Rutgers football, the Scarlet Knights. Towards the end of Friday, Donna Brazile was gracious enough to send a brief message, too. She talked about making Bloggers' Row its own room in the future, but what we had seemed pretty good.

All in all, we had a great time. Many thanks go to Tracy Russo for setting it all up.

So who do you like for president?