OK, it is, even at 11PM, ridiculously hot in Manhattan...and this coming from a summer baby who adores this season....But, as hot as it was here today, it was even hotter in NJ. Yet, a good number of people came out to hear Wes speak at the American Legion in Rochelle Park NJ this evening. The event was outdoors so no air conditioning but there were fans and bottles of cold water for all. Nice to see a number of CCNers there...Guy, Tom, Dom, melange. One of them can probably do a better job of describing the event and what Wes said than I as I think my brain is a little fried from the heat...but I will recount what I recall of the fundraiser afterwards....

One quick thought about the rally, though...As Wes was leaving the podium, shaking hands, talking to people, our own GUYMAN shook his hand and said "please run"...The young man next to him added "please win". Please win, indeed.

Now, on to the fundraiser, across the street at Villa Roberto.....When I first got there, leaving Wes behind to talk mingle some more with the Legion crowd, I thought, argh, what am I doing here with all of these suits?! I knew no one and the place was filled with men in suits....I did not belong. But, I did end up meeting a nice woman in the ladies room, who was very impressed that Wes never even loosened his tie in the heat at the rally and talked to some of the suits and they were quite nice. One guy, IT guy by day, opera singer by night, took out one of the WesPAC cards that Dom (right, it was you Dom who had them?) was passing out at the Legion rally and said, "I'm going to have to check his site out and see what he's up to." I spoke to some others about Gen Clark and about Paul and his chances and his Godawful opponent. I overheard a group of men talking about how Paul was bringing in the "big guns" with General Clark and then they went on to discuss what a good President he would make...so that was cool.

Somewhere along the way, Wes came in and mingled with the crowd. I said no more than hello to him myself but there were a number of others who had a lot to say to Wes.

Roberto, the restaurant owner, proudly took Wes over to show him the spread he'd had put out for the evening...so Wes did get to eat something.

In a little bit, they kind of cleared the floor for the speeches. The guy who introduced Wes said that he was one of the earliest supporters of Clark's '04 campaign and that it was Wes who got him into politics. He spoke very highly of our General, saying how he was really excited that Wes came out, that he'd seen Wes on TV in ‘03 and thought that his approach to problems would be analytical, reasoned and well thought out...Couldn't we have used someone like that in the White House now? he asked and, I think it was then that Roberto, who seems quite the Wes fan, said something like "We still can!" And everyone clapped...

Then Wes spoke...and I have to apologize about the pictures because my pics at the Legion rally came out really dark....and I took none at the fundraiser because Wes, and then Paul, ended up standing so darn close to me when they spoke that I really couldn't take pictures without being a major nuisance.

Anyway, he told the story of meeting Wolfowitz in his office as a one star and being told that the lesson of the Gulf War was that we could intervene in places like Iraq and the Soviet Union wouldn't respond...We had 5 years to clean up all of these Soviet satellites....something like that. As a one star, speaking to the Under Secretary of Defense (was that what he was at the time??), he said he replied "Yes, sir!" which got a chuckle from the crowd. He said when Bush got in office, he saw these guys putting this plan into motion but by then, after Bosnia and Kosovo and all, he had come to realize that force really should be used only only only as a last resort...Force creates uncontrollable consequences and when you kill someone's family member, the whole family then hates you....

Wes spoke of how important this 2006 election is, the most important we've faced. He said this was so not just because of foreign policy and the state of the world but because the Constitution and our government as we know it is in danger. He said that Rummy and Cheney, I think, want to reverse Watergate and give the executive branch unlimited powers. He said this country is in real danger, abroad and at home, and that we are in danger of seeing our government change into something it will be hard to recognize. He spoke of the betrayal of those who wrote the Constitution. He really really stressed this danger to the Constitution. He seems very worried about it. I don't think I've seen him speak that urgently about it before...As scary, in its own way, as the mess this Administration has created around the world.

He spoke of how Congress had abdicated their responsibility, how important it was that we get good people in to replace the rubber stamp, do nothing COngress in there now, people who will take seriously their responsibility to provide the checks and balances that our government depends upon. He said Paul is one of those men. He spoke of how Paul knows diplomacy, knows you sometimes have to talk with people you don't like. (For those who don't know....this, from Paul's website- "Paul spent several years working on foreign policy and national security issues as a member of the Clinton Administration. At the U.S. Department of State, he gained tremendous experience working on a wide range of international security matters - from nonproliferation to arms control to peacekeeping to Middle East policy. He also had the opportunity to serve three American Ambassadors to the United Nations - Madeleine Albright, Bill Richardson, and Richard Holbrooke.") Wes also spoke of how Paul left his job to run in NJ and represent the people of that District. He also asked everyone there to dig deep and max out in contributions to Paul's campaign. He said if we lose our government as we know it, we'll all be losing a lot more than $2100 (which I guess is the max contribution). He stressed again that this is not about 2008, that we have to do something now, this election, to change things...

Then Paul spoke and, I gotta say, I really like this guy. He spoke highly of Wes, arguing jokingly with the guy who introduced Wes about who was the earlier Clark supporter. He said he'd been pleased to have other people come to help him, his former bosses (Madeleine Albright had been out there in support of him earlier) and such but he was especially pleased to have Wes there. He spoke very passionately about his support for Wes and how he thought that our General embodied all that was good, the soldier-statesman we so desperately need and he really hoped that Wes would run again in '08. The crowd agreed, with Roberto (who had donated his place for the event, BTW) again leading the cheers. It was a virtual Wes-lovefest. haha!

And then Paul spoke passionately about why he's running and what he hopes to do when elected. He said people ask him why he's doing this and he told this story of how, when he was out walking (He's doing this thing where he's walking all the towns in his district and knocking on doors.) one hot morning, he knocked on a door and the woman who answered told him of how upset she was with things and how she was looking for an answer and there it was, Paul, knocking on her door. You could see how moved he was by that experience as he told the story. This guy's the real deal...a really down to earth, good guy who wants to do good and serve his country....I so hope he wins. We would do well with folks like him in Congress.

Oh, yes, at one point, during Wes' speech, he was referring to Paul's opponent with a string of, as Wes called them "noxious" adjectives and said I don't think I can add any more...and Paul called out "I can!" It was funny and quick and the crowd got a good chuckle out of it.

Anyway, at the end, Wes came up and again asked us to support Paul and told him he wanted to be in DC with him when they swore in the new Congress....Then it was back out into the steamy night.

As I sat waiting for the bus to take me back to the city, I thought about the event at the American Legion and the veterans who were there and the respect and maybe even reverence they showed Gen Clark. They stood and applauded with feeling when he came in and you could just sense that they were honored that he came to speak to them. And I thought of how proud the whole thing made me...my General, standing there in the sweltering heat, under this wooden roof out in the parking lot of this American Legion hall, red, white and blue bunting and US flags around us....We pledged the flag before the event began....The whole thing made me proud to be an American in a way I don't think I could be if not for Wes and all he's done since we drafted him. And I thanked God quickly for giving me that back for, although I am now a city girl, and I do love NYC in ways I can't even begin to express, that was how I grew up....in a small town where everyone old enough to have served was a veteran, where the American Legion and the VFW sponsored Little League teams every year, where we waited anxiously for the hot dog, movies and a visit from Santa Christmas party at the VFW every year....And sitting, there, thinking of the evening, I felt like that small town kid again....and maybe I was just hot and tired but I can't deny it made me tear up a bit...Thanks, Wes.

One final note....Please do check out Paul's website -- www.paularonsohn.com -- he's one of the good guys.

And I do hope I've represented the evening at least close to accurately....