July 29-August 4, 2004

political notebook

GLAD HANDING: Sharif Street (right) shares a laugh with the Rev. Al Sharpton during DNC festivities in Boston. Photo By: Mike Mergen

by Mary F. Patel

The Boston DNC Parties

Boston opened its doors last weekend to the thousands of delegates who swarmed the city expecting to have a fabulous time. Mayor Tom Menino made special efforts to clean up a city that is basically already pretty clean, although disposing of trash is now a problem because all public trash cans have been removed for fear of a bomb being hidden in one.

SWAT teams and local and state police were everywhere. On all corners of all streets. Atop downtown buildings. In subway stations. The T, the Boston public transport system, was the only way to travel, because demonstrations often blocked traffic for miles.

Most of the Pennsylvania contingent arrived Sunday and immediately hit the parties.

That afternoon, the line was long to get into the Boston Tea Party, hosted by openly gay Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank down on Boston Harbor. Out in Cambridge, MTV and Comcast hosted a bash at the prestigious Charles Hotel. While U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton stopped in, crashers and oglers were hanging around outside hoping for a glimpse of Ben Affleck. Bill Clinton, who was staying at the Charles, caused a big commotion when the rubberneckers saw him wander in.

Pennsylvania delegates had their opening party at the Massachusetts State House, where they were greeted by a fife, drum and flag trio and state troopers demanding picture IDs before allowing anyone to approach the metal detectors and X-ray machines that scanned everyone's bags.

Booze was plentiful, but delegates complained about the lack of food.

At the 2000 Democratic Convention in Los Angeles, several tables overflowed with delectables at the opening delegate party. At this party, only New England clam chowder, gazpacho and cheese were available, and, if delegates were lucky, they could grab some chicken on a stick. Considering that menu, many resorted to searching for dinner elsewhere.

In the first hour of the party, convention co-chair Gov. Ed Rendell arrived with Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of the presumed Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. It was her first delegation stop of the evening.

Rendell, looking slimmer and tanner than he has in a long time, made some brief comments about Heinz Kerry before she took the mic and made a slightly rambling speech. Still, Pennsylvanians took to the auburn-haired widow of late U.S. Sen. John Heinz of Pittsburgh.

After her speech, she headed for the exit with Rendell. It was then that she got into a spat with a Pittsburgh reporter over a remark in her speech in which she criticized activities of the current administration as being "un-American." When the reporter followed her and asked her to clarify her comments, she first denied saying it, walked away, then walked back to him and told him to "shove it." The press is a pain in the ass anyway, who needs them?

High-roller-type elected officials and delegates bailed out of the State House to more upscale parties, such as the $1,000-a-head fundraiser hosted by Pennsylvania's State Committee chairman, T.J. Rooney, at the Omni Parker house, where the state delegates were staying. Other competing parties were one hosted by Pennsylvania state House Leader Bill DeWeese at Davio's in Boston and Rendell's fundraiser at the Navy Yard, which came complete with fireworks.

On Monday morning, delegates dragged themselves to a high-carb breakfast in the Omni. The meal was quite important, too, as it was a big caucus day. Latino caucuses. Women's caucuses. LGBT caucuses. Everybody had a caucus. That afternoon, many left early to catch the gavel opening of the convention at the Fleet Center. Big mistake! Hours and hours and hours of snoozers. There was nothing much to do but roam the halls and watch for celebrities.

Drawing crowds of reporters and gawkers at the Fleet were Al Sharpton; Jesse Jackson; Michael Moore; Al Franken; George Stephanopoulos; the Daily Show team of Ed Helms, Steven Colbert, Samantha Bee and Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog; former Vice President and losing presidential candidate Walter Mondale, who has no official role at the convention; and Jerry Springer, who may run for a congressional seat from Ohio, but needs to do something about that hair.

All the good stuff was held back until the prime-time viewing hours. The event was planned, of course, so that the headliners speak at the top of each hour, trying to catch viewers who might stay for the rest of the time slot, i.e. the filler. Believe it or not, the speakers kept remarkably to the schedule.

And what happened to former Vice President Al Gore? He was looser, tanner and fitter than during his own campaign four years ago. He was self-deprecating and funny, with just a soupcon of bitterness left over from the Supreme Court decision that had him joining the ranks of George Bush's unemployed.

Former President Jimmy Carter, the Nobel Peace Prize winner who has become the party's elder statesman, spoke about America's place on the world stage and the need for us to engage in international cooperation. After Carter, excitement mounted for the stars of the evening.

Hillary Clinton, looking fabulous but surprisingly not having undergone a costume change (lemon-yellow chiffon suit) from her appearance with the Democratic women U.S. senators hours earlier, did more than introduce her husband. She was trying to secure her own place on the national stage.

Despite concerns from delegates that she would feel in competition with vice presidential candidate John Edwards for a future run at the big job, she spent plenty of energy praising the top of the ticket.

When Bill Clinton came on stage, the place exploded. The big hambone, who was trying to behave as he helps engineer a return to the White House as first husband, scored two strategic points. First, he painted the Republicans as extremists. The second, a clever appeal to the Clinton bashers, came when he noted the Bush tax cuts were a great big boon to himself — now that he's made millions from his book.

President Clinton's starring role marked a huge change from the Democratic Convention of 2000, when he was relegated to brief remarks on opening night and was told to disappear for the rest of the week by the Gore campaign.

After Bill and Hill left the stage, delegates rushed for the doors, ignoring the closing concert by Philadelphia songstress Patti LaBelle, who wore a flashy sequined gown.

The Life of a Delegate is Tough

Every night after the convention, back at the Omni Parker, a different sponsor springs for free food and libations for the Pennsylvania delegation. State Treasurer and former Republican Barbara Hafer hosted Monday night's lavish party with a baseball theme. Hafer, who is planning to run against U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, went all out with crab cakes, coconut shrimp, a pasta station and a carved roast beef station along with gooey desserts. The party lasted until 3 a.m.

A surprise guest was Mina Baker Knoll, daughter of Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll, who ran against Hafer for treasurer in 1996. In positioning herself for her 2006 Senate race, Hafer made special efforts to flaunt her Democratic conversion, pointing out Democratic elected officials in attendance and handing out "Kerry '04" baseball hats that have her name embroidered on the back along with "Hafer Supports the "Real Deal' Kerry 2004" foam baseballs.

Discussed among Roman Catholic delegates at the party was that Boston Archbishop Sean O'Malley has refused to give the closing benediction Thursday night after Kerry's speech because of Kerry's pro-choice views. Some of the women delegates attending were trying to determine where the Planned Parenthood reception would be because of the speculation that Sex in the City star Sarah Jessica Parker would be there.

Across town, the Human Rights Campaign, a national nonprofit dedicated to equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people, had a rocking party for 500 at the Avalon

nightclub. U.S. Rep. Joe Hoeffel attended the VIP reception, as did Kate Edwards, the VP candidate's daughter; openly gay Congresswoman and convention speaker Tammy Baldwin; and Chrissy Gephardt, the openly gay daughter of U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt.

Hoeffel was reveling in his HRC endorsement in his senatorial bid against the longtime gay-friendly Republican incumbent Arlen Specter. (HRC members are mad at Specter because of his vote to move the Defense of Marriage Amendment to a Senate vote.)

The scheduled highlight of the evening was bisexual

comedian Margaret Cho, but the performance was canned by HRC leadership at the last minute due to fears stemming from her planned debut of racy material regarding Bush, a fist and Abu Ghraib.

"That's not the message we wanted to send," said Harvey L. Hurdle Jr. , chief executive officer of HRC, an organizer of the event. "We didn't want it to be about the comedian, we wanted it to be a positive message about John Kerry."

In a press release, the popular yet sometimes controversial entertainer said, "Although I don't believe it was the right decision, I am not angry with the HRC for withdrawing their invitation."

To wrap up the evening, the transgendered delegates had their own party at Jacque's bar in Boston's Theater District. Jacque's is Boston's oldest gay bar and caters to a largely transgendered crowd.