Crossposted from Green Mountain Daily
I didn't think I was going to be able to get to the post-election party sponsored by the state Democratic Party tonight, but suddenly an opportunity presented itself and I popped into my car and zoomed over. Around 100 people were in attendence from a couple different Dem "usual suspect" subsets that don't usually mix. To my chagrin, I realized I had arrived just in time for the traditional parade of speeches from the electeds, so I took a deep breath and tried to look interested.
But then something odd happened. One after one, our statewide candidates (winners and losers) took the stage and were relaxed, positive and ... well, brief - which only buoyed the crowd (which had already been drinking for an hour before my arrival) further. And one by one, the speakers reminded us all what we'd accomplished, sure - but also how much work was left to do.
Newly elected US Congressman Peter Welch was relaxed, sincere, funny - and downright inspiring. I like Peter, but I haven't generally found him to be very inspiring in front of a crowd, which made it even more remarkable. He spoke eloquently about meeting with Rep. John Murtha after the leadership vote, and accompanying Murtha to the Bethesda military hospital the very next day to visit and speak with the Iraq wounded. The crowd practically yelled halleluia when he ended his three minutes by stating clearly and directly that he understood and embraced the fact that voters had sent him to Washington first and foremost to end the Iraq War and bring the troops home as soon as possible.
Senator-Elect Bernie Sanders followed, also more relaxed than I've ever heard him. Of course there is no one more inspiring on the stump than Bernie, but he doesn't exactly exude a lot of warmth, generally speaking. This time was different, which is not to say his time-tested timbre and message were in any way altered, just that he was clearly among friends, and the crowd of Democrats (which have longed to be able to celebrate his work with him among them) responded in kind.
And finally there was our Senior Senator, Patrick Leahy. For those who've heard Senator Leahy speak, you know that his delivery can vary quite a bit. It can be easy to tell when he's tired, physically or mentally - so Leahy on the stump doesn't necessarily mean the same thing twice. But Leahy of late has had a fire in his belly, the likes of which we haven't seen in a while. His sadness at the loss of comity and the discarding of basic Constitutional values under the Bush GOP has turned into outrage, and he has been consistently riveting in front of a crowd in recent months.
But since the election, that outrage has turned into inspiration, and it's an inspiration he passed on to the crowd tonight. Like the speakers before him, Leahy was funny, thankful, exuberant... but there was an edge that was very serious. He related a conversation where he was recently asked if President Bush should be "worried" that he was now to be Chair of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee. The crowd started cheering.
"No, no" he said, calming the crowd, as if to be prepared for a softening of his rhetoric.
"No, he shouldn't be worried. He should be terrified."
And the room exploded.
Leahy went on to assure the crowd that, unlike "some in the administration," he'd "actually read the Constitution," and went on to promise that no judges nominated to the federal bench who would ignore that Constitution would ever get past his committee.
All told, it was a great evening. An inspiring evening, and it had been a long time coming - not just in the sense of wresting control of the COngress from Bush, but by having Senator Sanders in the room, breaking bread with so many of the people who had worked so hard to put him into office. It was a reminder of a big part of why we had won nationally - because while the Bushites were tearing the Right Wing apart with divisive politics and corruption, the Left Wing was coming together like never before to protect our shared values (if not always our shared strategies).
So who'd-a-thunk it? In the end, Bush ended up being a uniter after all.