When we heard, on good authority, that Kendra Hamilton had been seen some years ago at a Republican meeting, our interest was certainly piqued. Hamilton is an active Democrat -- now -- and a candidate for the Democratic nomination to run for Charottesville City Council.

So we called her. "Did you ...? Were you ...? "

"Oh, my, yes!" (Peals of laughter). "Let me tell you about that -- it really was something. I had done a poetry reading at Michael [Crafaik]'s restaurant, so I knew him, and kind of owed him a favor. And he came around--he put the arm, you know, on his employees and his friends -- and he told us there was going to be this meeting and he wanted us all to come. He didn't say exactly what it was. And I went, and I'll tell you, it was scary. To see how Republicans do things -- if this is the way Republicans do things. There were people standing up and saying, you know, how much they admired Jesse Helms, and things like that.

"Anyway, he had so many people there, it just kind of hijacked their meeting. And they got angry -- after the thing, I heard, Michael and this other guy even got into a fist fight.

"So the answer is yes, I was there. And it was scary."

Dave Sagarin, February 1, 2004