Amidst a sea of College Democrats running to and fro as they shouted into their walkie-talkies, Gephardt found his way to the Kirkland’s JCR, where he spoke with a crowd of nearly 100 before his “Hardball” debut.

Brian M. Goldsmith ’05, who interned on the Gephardt campaign this summer, introduced the candidate at the Kirkland event, calling the Missouri congressman a “profoundly good and honest and decent public servant.”

Gephardt began his talk with a brief recounting of his upbringing as the son of a milk truck driver in St. Louis.

Although he maintained a conversational style, Gephardt’s calm veneer quickly disappeared when he began taking audience questions on policy. At times, he didn’t even need a microphone, his voice growing louder over the course of the Kirkland session—until he was literally yelling.

The congressman’s fiery spirit showed through when discussing his signature issue, workers’ rights and his plans to increase social welfare. But he saved his true vitriol for his Republican opposition.

“This administration is so intolerant, so absolute, so assured of their own opinion of the world, of the way things should go,” he said. “I learn from other people by listening to other people. You should be willing to listen to other people’s views.”

Gephardt ended the talk in a reflective tone that emphasized his plans for the future.

“I have a philosophy of life,” he said. “We’re all tied together... What affects one directly affects all of us indirectly.”

Students had mixed reactions to the candidate.

“He seemed very polished. He held himself very well against Matthews,” said Krister B. Anderson ’07. But Anderson added, “I’m questionable about his foreign policy experience.”

Mark T. Silvestri ’05, spokesperson for the Harvard Republican Club, who reaffirmed the club’s unwavering support of the Bush administration, chose to take issue with more specific points of Gephardt’s platform.

“Nationalized health care is not the most efficient way to provide insurance for all Americans,” he said. “Opposing the right to work is by no means a wise decision for the country as a whole and for individual workers.”