Last night was magical. In Burlington, Vermont, the tenth annual Democratic Curtis Awards Dinner honored Governor Howard Dean for his contributions to his state, his country, and his Party. Senator Claire McCaskill was a guest of honor, and Dems clapped and cheered on fellow Democrats and Bernie throughout the evening.
I was fortunate to sit at the Democracy For America table. DFA is one of Howard's enduring legacies. The great, enthusiastic young crew, including DFA's fireball of an Executive Director, Arshad Hasan, underscored that Howard's work lives on.
More on the evening and pictures..............
He's back!
We found out early in the evening that the Doctor/Governor/DNC ex-Chair was still fighting for national health care and marriage equality. He gave such a ringing speech on the civil rights aspect of marriage equality that our lone congressman, Peter Welch, looked around in astonishment at the strength of the response Howard generated among Democrats. Marriage equality is an issue most Vermont Democrats are going to bat for in a big way. My local House representative says she is voting for it, but she's getting lots of crank calls against marriage equality and wants to hear from as many voters as possible to bolster her stand.
Then Senator Claire McCaskill spoke on values as Democrats. You could hear the conviction in her voice. She spoke of her daughter engaging her support for Obama's presidential candidacy in a very direct manner. "How can you look at yourself in the mirror?" Her daughter asked when her mother supported Hillary. She went on to call her own mother a "slug" for not honoring her own values and supporting Obama. McCaskill's support soon went openly to Obama.
When Pat Leahy took the stage, the applause was thunderous. Vermont's senior senator is a beloved Party fixture. leahy noted the historical importance of marriage equality, and that Vermont was helping lead the way for the nation.
The crowd started to burst into, "Bernie! Bernie! Bernie! as Senator Sanders walked up the stairs. Bernie motioned for everyone to sit when they jumped to their feet to show their respect. He's leading the fight for single payer and Vermonters appreciate that.
After the speeches I went up to Leahy and thanked him for his leadership in the Judiciary. I then asked him what his thoughts were on the "Torture" Commission. I misspoke, as I am prone to do, but Leahy knew what I was asking about and he said it was important work that he was giving considerable attention to. I didn't have a chance to ask him about Appendix M of the Army Field Manual as I had hoped to do, but he's very aware of his constituents concerns on torture.
Bernie I thanked for his bill on single payer. I asked him about his stand on the Afghan surge. I was surprised that he hasn't decided on that one yet. He's still in a listening mode. When I said I thought he was probably getting barraged with requests for his support, he strongly concurred.
Vermont's lone congressman, Peter Welch, has his doubts concerning the Afghan surge. I hope he links up with Conyers and Kucinich in opposing a troop increase in Afghanistan.
Heads of the state senate and house spoke as well, and there was agreement after agreement on the importance of marriage equality as a civil right. All in all, I was very proud of Vermont's Democratic Party, and of our lone Democratic Socialist, Bernie Sanders. Vermont is very fortunate in its representatives.
(I forgot my camera. Pictures thanks to J. Sander)