Playing With the Big Boys Now...And Getting Noticed

You bloggers really are becoming the 800 pound Gorilla in the room.

That is what a good friend said to me today (paraphrased), I think with some surprise behind it. He will laugh that I am using that line, but in retrospect it really set the tone for this evening.

My friend is a major player in Brooklyn politics. I'd say who because I have lots good to say and he has some ambitions, but I think he prefers to keep his name out of the blogs. But today he said that bloggers have become the 800 lb. Gorilla in the room. I laughed and let it pass as we talked about local politics. But tonight I kept coming back to that statement as I stood, among some of the biggest big wigs of the party, and realized that it was true.

Yesterday a bunch of us got invited as guests to a major DCCC dinner in Manhattan honoring Nancy Pelosi. This really was playing with the big boys, and we got invited. The venue was Cipriani, a prime ballroom on Wall Street with Corinthian columns that make everyone, even Eliot Spitzer, look short. The ceiling is dilapidated and needs major restoration, but the rest of the place was spectacular...in a way that is gaudy and I largely dislike. But this is the kind of place where the big boys play.

I got there early. The doorman sneered at me, and asked in disbelief, "Are you a guest?" I said yes and he ushered me in. Largely he was the only one to condescend. With the exception of a few snotty big shots, people were very friendly and enthusiastic. I got a glass of red wine (an excellent Merlot) and was settling into observation mode. Just as a string quartet poised way up on a balcony began playing, Eliot Spitzer walked into the still largely empty room. I should have gone up and said hello.

Here is where I am incompetent when it comes to these things. Instead of going up and Shmoozing with Spitzer when almost no one else was about, I stopped and realized that the string quartet, playing Mozart, I believe, was really, really good. I mean, I know some musicians and even know someone who was once president of an orchestra. So I know that most musicians at a gig are half hearted and are mainly hoping for some leftovers from the event. These guys were REALLY good. From the first few bars I was caught listening to some really good music...and missed cornering Spitzer. Ah, well. Mozart is immortal. Spitzer has not yet achieved this.

Cipriani provided a magnificent bar, with excellent red wine (my choice) and largely anything else you could want. People filed in, mostly white and mostly insiders. Liza and, much later, Michael Bouldin walked in like they owned the place...clearly out of place but also clearly in charge of themselves. Michael in particular looked from side to side with a sardonic look, practically the only male there who disdained to wear a tie. People moved aside a bit as he strode in. Liza went off quickly to do what I didn't: corner Spitzer.

Liza spent lots of time shmoozing in a way I seldom can aim for. Michael was the guy with the camera right in Nancy Pelosi's face. I am sure you will get plenty from them later...stuff I missed.

This is NYC. So I was surprised that I got in but few black politicians were there. Charlie Rangel was very prominent, but few other minorities were there at all. Of those who I saw, they mostly looked tentative and out of place, except Liza who was in command from what I saw. Michael and Liza illustrated early on the 800 lb. Gorilla phenomenon. Even Spitzer seemed eager to talk to Liza.

There was some issue seating me. They didn't seem sure what to do with me. I got moved around a tad, but I got the feeling that they wanted me next to a specific person. Not sure why I was placed next to him, but he was indeed quite interesting. He goes back a bit, being on staff of someone who was fired in Nixon's Saturday Night Massacre. His stories of that weekend were priceless. And his take, contrary to many people I know, is that Nixon was way worse of a threat to American democracy than Bush. My wife thinks Nixon would be envious of the way Bush and his handlers have subverted America, but my neighbor during dinner expressed how Nixon, perhaps because he actually had a brain, was a far worse threat. Which is worse, an evil genius or a fool who gets power? This is a debate I have had with people since Reagan. But it was interesting hearing it from someone who was in the center of Nixon's attack on democracy.

Nancy Pelosi was great. She spoke strongly of offering America a "new order of the ages" (taken from the motto on the Great Seal of the United States). She specifically expressed a desire to find bipartisan solutions where possible, and where it wasn't possible, to stand firm against the worst actions of the Republican Party. She also expressed the importance of proving to America that the "new order of the ages" was a program of actual practical legislation that would benefit a majority of hard working Americans. She made reference, quite proudly, to the "first 100 hours" of the new Congress with all it accomplished, but she didn't dwell on it, focusing more on what has to be done from now. She seemed very cognizant of the need to prove ourselves to a skeptical America.

At first I noticed something odd. As Nancy Pelosi spoke, a handful of Congress Critters lined up with her on stage (my congresswoman, Yvette Clarke, was absent). Oddly, despite his introducing the proceedings, Charlie Rangel, as well as Jerrold Nadler, seemed out of place on stage. This was nothing anyone on stage seemed to realize. But body language and position on stage seemed to exclude Rangel and Nadler, even though they were prominently placed on stage. This changed somewhat when Pelosi specifically praised Rangel, but to me there was an odd period where the two most prominent NYC Congress Critters on stage seemed almost excluded.

But the message was a great one. Inclusion: the Democrats as the party of a broad, national coalition. Accountability: realization that the voters are watching and that we have something to prove. Hope: an enthusiasm for getting practical things done that is refreshing after years of Republicans telling us nothing can be done.

I had to leave early, after the excellent dinner (though you can find better in some not so expensive Park Slope restaurants!) and right after the soft chocolate dessert (a chocolate soufflé that reminded me of an EXCELLENT dessert at the Los Angeles restaurant Rockenwagners called a "chocolate tart" that my brother, a food skeptic, described as being worth killing for). I had wanted to corner Jerrold Nadler, who my wife and I had talked to after a National Jewish Democratic Council breakfast some time past. He had been at the table next to me, but I missed him. So I left...

As I walked out, there was Nadler talking on the phone in front of me, with a staff member hovering nearby. So I waited. When he was off the phone, I approached and explained I had met him before and he had regaled my wife and I (and then 1 year old son) with a story of a politician dandling a baby while speaking to a crowd. He looked at me skeptically and said he didn't remember anything like that. He looked at my name tag and I identified myself as mole333 from Daily Gotham.

Well, Jerrold Nadler reads us! I am flattered that he is familiar with my stuff and I felt I was now the focus of his attention rather than me trying to corner him. 800 lb. Gorilla came to mind around now...as did a disbelief that this heavy hitting Congressman was familiar with what I have written about Brooklyn politics!

Nadler and I discussed the Congressional opposition to Bush's Iraq quagmire. Nadler emphasized, and I completely agree, that Congress has to PRIMARILY express opposition to Bush and his McCain-inspired escalation. What headline do we want: Congress says "enough is enough," Bush threatens veto...or Congress caves to Bush? Even if what Congress is proposing isn't perfect, the very fact that it opposes the escalation and tries to set a timetable for withdrawal, and PROBABLY will still force a veto, is a huge step from the fawning, eager to kiss-ass Congress (my words, NOT Nadler's) that we had before November 2006. The bottom line is that Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Congress, though not reaching a pinnacle of progressive perfection, has still forced debate and ultimately a statement of strong opposition to Bush's Iraq quagmire and McCain's escalation, and probably will still force a veto if their proposals get through the Senate as well. This draws clear lines between the parties, and in the media: FOR the troops and AGAINST Bush and McCain, versus fawning support of Bush's failed policy and failure to support our troops and our Veterans. I have covered this extensively: Republicans want more war and no support for our troops and veterans. Democrats are fed up with a war with no purpose and no exit strategy and want to support our troops and veterans. The main issue among Democrats is HOW to best oppose the Iraq quagmire while still solidly supporting the troops. We are a diverse party and we have a diversity of opinion on the best way of doing this. But there is no question that Democrats oppose the quagmire while still wanting to support the troops.

As Nadler and I agreed at the need to provide a clear headline of opposition to Bush while still clearly supporting our troops, I had to bid farewell so I could get home and participate in our son's bedtime ritual.

Thanks for the chance to play with the big boys, thanks for a nice dinner, and thanks to Jerrold Nadler for realizing what needs doing...and for reading Daily Gotham.

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