I attended a DCCC fundraiser luncheon here in Atlanta today at the home of Congressman John Lewis, GA-05 headlined by Bill Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and Stenny Hoyer. Others notables in attendance included former GA Governor Roy Barnes, Congressman Sanford Bishop (GA-02), and Hank Johnson (GA-04 candidate who defeated Cynthia McKinney).
Although this was the typical fundraiser event with motivational speeches targeted to the party faithful, the three headliners offered some interesting commentary that I had not heard before in reports from previous events and that was not covered in the AJC article mentioned in another diary.
More on the flip:
CLINTON:
The Big Dog focused a lot of his commentary on the timeliness of reaching out to rational/reasonable Republican Conservatives and Moderates. He dwelled extensively on the recent party-switching scenario in Kansas (where 9 key Republican state office holders switched to Dems) as well as growing Dem support in the officer ranks of the military. He underscored that the Republican Party has been hijacked by the extremist sliver of the party to the detriment of its whole, and there is no tolerance for fiscal conservatives, environmentalists, or alternative views on Iraq. He held to his centrist roots by saying the Democratic Party is really the only alternative where true fiscal conservatives, moderates, and liberals can co-exist under one tent. The message: reach out and bring Republican office holders and voters into the Dem fold.
PELOSI:
In addition to her standard commentary about the first 100 hours and "draining the swamp", she spoke somewhat along the same line as Clinton in terms of her goal of restoring civility in the House and reaching across the aisle to sensible Republicans. She surprised many in attendance with a "turn the other cheek" approach in which she said that Republicans would not be "shut out" of discussion and committee input as has been the case of Democrats being shut out of the process under the Hastert regime. She obviously believes, and I hope she is correct, that there is some potential for cross-party coalition building in a Democratic controlled House that will restore civility and result in the undoing of some of the damage the Bush administration has wrought on the country. Between the lines, I perceived that Pelosi wants to pursue a veto-proof majority vote on key issues...a lofty goal but I'll give her kudos for trying.
HOYER
Stenny is great speaker and gave the usual "pump up" stemwinder that the party faithful loves to hear, but throughout the speech he kept interjecting the phrase "this country is in serious trouble" at least a dozen times in his speech. It's a simple phrase, but it really hits home as on-message to the two-thirds of Americans who believe the country is headed in the wrong direction. I wish more of our candidates would use that phrase often in their appeals to independent and Republican voters. It's a great sound bite.
UNDERCURRENT THEME: If there is Dem sweep in November, I believe both Clinton and Pelosi may be implying there will be some serious opportunities to facilitate party-switching in Congress.
Although I don't usually pay to attend big-name party events, I was going to donate to the DCCC anyway so I thought it would be an enjoyable outing, and it was. The highlight for me was sharing a table with Rev. McKinley Young, the Presiding Bishop of The African Methodist Episcopal Church for Florida and the Bahamas. We had an in-depth discussion about the religious right and topics addressed in David Kuo's new book "Tempting Faith". Bishop McKinley was clearly distraught over the intolerance and total lack of focus on poverty by the Dobsonites, et al. I could sense the anguish in this deeply religious mans view that the Christian faith has been sullied and tarnished so badly by extremists who preach hate and exclusion.