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Dear George, The fundraiser was a big party-party. A lot of money was gathered -- more than $1.7 million, we were told -- and the mood of the crowd was happy and high-energy. A line-up of speakers warmed us up, among them Walter Tejada, Jim Moran, Kerry Donley, Tim Kaine, and, of course, our host, Mark Warner. One theme struck home: leadership. With what sounded like genuine dismay and disgust, several speakers recalled how Bush, after the September attacks, asked nothing of us! No sacrifice, no call to common purpose, no lifting us above ourselves to work for something greater than ourselves! No: we were told to keep shopping. Against this, they set Kerry, who would (they said) lead us as a people and restore our besmirched name, re-gather our respect in the world. The crowd liked this, as did I. Faint echoes of Kennedy. Kerry was good on-stage, his opening humor done with a light touch, though we've already read or heard most of the amusing lines elsewhere. He was warm about Edwards and at ease talking about Edwards' sex-appeal. He handled the stump speech well. He is a thoughtful speaker, I would say, not a shouter, not a rouser; but I don't mind this. He is probably witty, or at least quick-witted. You had the sense (or, he conveyed this well) that he had thought through what he was saying and stood by his words.  Internationally, he said that he would be the leader we need and lack, restoring the respect for our nation that Bush had squandered, and emphasized that he -- that is, we -- would never go to war because we wanted to, only because we had to. (Big cheers.) Domestically, he appealed to the whole nation, and promised ideas and programs for the good of people who are having a hard time in this mismanaged economy. About health care he reminded us that Congress gets the best, most complete coverage in America -- and we pay for it. We should hold Congress to account, he said: there is no reason why the nation should not have the same coverage. Rolling back the high-end tax cuts would pay for it. (More cheers) He said this is the most important election of our lifetime, and that now, as never before, everything we believe in and care about is on the line -- the courts, domestic programs, how we use our power in the world, our relations with other nations, our security and how we try to achieve it. But what interested me most was his optimism. He said that not all is lost, that new programs can be initiated, that even this gigantic deficit can be turned around; Clinton did it once before, after all. He said "Why not?" and "What if?", calling on us to imagine a nation re-united with itself, caring for ordinary people and the powerless, and the middle-class, which is paying for this war, and investing in the future. All this is possible, he said; we can do it. The Democrats are accountable, and are for accountability; for investment in ourselves; for responsible use of our power. Etc. Echoes of Robert Kennedy. I take a pretty dim view of our future, particularly if Bush continues as president, and was pleased to be reminded that we're not inert and without power, that this is a nation of its people, that we have higher obligations than to ourselves, after all, and that there are more of "us" than it seemed (until Howard Dean took the fight to the president, I add). The energy rose, and was fun. Kerry spoke about that, too -- he's encountered it on the campaign trail. He looks confident, perhaps because of it. A final observation: the Dems (Va. and national) need a dj. The music was dumb. It was dumb at the state convention, too. White guys who can't dance trying to be cool. Please. Yours,
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