Wes in Monroe: Part II
By mariawells Crossposted with permission from Eric Massa for Congress August 3, 2006
The place was packed. It was wonderful. Truthfully, I don't think I've ever been to a "better" fundraiser. There was just something about it (hmm... maybe it was the air conditioning?) that made it perfect.
I got there a little late. Sam, Geoff, and I had a little trouble navigating our way back from downtown. There was a detour that I think was a vast right wing conspiracy to keep us from getting to Mario's. We were literally driving around in giant circles.
When we arrived, Eric and Wes were at the front of the room with a giant line snaking through the tables. They were doing a reception line where anyone and everyone got to have their picture taken standing between Wes and Eric. Yeah, I guess it cut down on face time for some people, but, wow, what a cool idea. With 120 people in attendance, this was definitely the way to go. Everyone seemed thrilled. I thought about getting in line myself. But, actually, watching was so much fun in and of itself that I couldn't bring myself to give up my prime viewing spot.
Joe Morelle, Chairman of the Monroe County Democratic Committee, introduced Wes. He gave a wonderful introduction. I learned something I didn't know about Wes. Benjamin Kanne, Wes's father, was a delegate to the 1932 Democratic Convention where FDR was nominated. I guess I should have known that, but I didn't. Joe had to leave early, so nobody got a chance to tell him what a great job he did.
Then Wes spoke. He said mostly the same things he'd said at the press conference. But, as mgm mentioned, there was the point where he called George Bush a "strategic dunce." That was classic. Perhaps we should order strategic dunce caps with Bush's picture on them? He talked about when Eric was diagnosed with cancer and how they'd all cried their eyes out when he left SHAPE to go back to the States for treatment that everyone thought was hopeless. And how Eric called him 6 months later and said, "I'm alive, boss."
I've said this before but it really amazes me every time--seeing Wes and Eric together is very special. They just plain work together well.
Wes talked again about how Americans value human life and that the Bush administration doesn't seem to realize that you can't just "restart" a life once you've bombed someone's house. Once they're dead, they're dead. There's no reboot button.
Someone yelled out that they wanted him to run in 08 and like at the press conference (which I forgot to mention), he said that he wasn't going to talk about it. He thought that was doing a disservice to the country. We need an independent Congress that's willing to live up to their duties to check and balance the executive branch. And in order to have that, we need a new Congress. We need to be focussed on 2006. We can't wait til 2008.
But, it was kind of funny cause then he went on to talk about how great it was running in 04.
After Wes finished talking, Eric got up there and started off talking about health care and how he'd been fortunate enough to have the best and so should everyone else. (As Wes left the podium, he came to the back of the room and -- oh my god -- stood next to ME! How cool is that?) Eric talked about how his wife was his biggest supporter and his first and most important endorsement. Wes's face lit up when Eric mentioned his wife and he started mumbling, "Where is she?" The crowd all sort of just directed him over to her one person at a time. That was really nice to see. I love to see people showing genuine caring for each other.
Eric also talked about the minimum wage and the Republican "poison pill" inheritance tax amendment to it. He said you could bet he wouldn't pull any garbage like that when he was in Congress. I had a very short side conversation with Wes about the original intent of the inheritance tax and he gave me homework to go do research on it.
When Eric was done talking, there was more picture taking. Wes stayed around for quite some time.
It was a real treat. The atmosphere was perfect. At the end, Wes and Eric were each off in different floor-spots carrying on conversations with people. And Wes seemed even more relaxed and friendly than usual. You can really feel how much Eric and Wes care about each other--and maybe even more importantly--how well they must have worked together. They just click.