George:

Our friend Hamilton Clancy makes an interesting point. Why call yourself a Democrat and go along with the Republican agenda?

A grand old Democrat, who served as chair of the New York State Democratic Committee and vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee, told me once: "Some happy day, the natural lines will be drawn. All the right-wingers will vote Republican, and all the left-wingers will vote Democratic. And when that happens I plan to fly down and watch."

Herbert Pell, 1884-1961, served one term in Congress, 1918-20, just long enough to vote against Prohibition. He was the father of Claiborne Pell, who was U.S. Senator from Rhode Island from 1960 till 1997 and who chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (the Pell Grants are named for him).

Herbert worked for Theodore Roosevelt in the 1912 campaign, and I worked for him, which puts me at one degree of separation from old Teddy.

Love,

Carolyn Silver (electronic mail, August 5, 2003)