I just heard from my sig-other, he met Kerry today

[TayTay]

My hubby was at a forum on CapHill (long story) and met the distinguished Sens from MA. He promised me more details later and pics. (Yes, Sens. My esteemed Junior and Senior Senators shook hands with the local pols and had a Q&A.)

My husband said that Sen. Kerry took his question (in a forum with about 100 people.) "Oh yeah," says I, "What did you ask him." "A question about veterans benefits and how that's going," says he who sleeps next to me. "Geez, a softball question." Anyway, I will depose my hubby later and get the scoop on all the comments said from the speakers you would recognize. (Lindsey Graham? At a MA pols event? What a guy!)

Jealous much! First I sees the Sen, then the hubby does. Just wait till May!

EDIT: I have limited ability to ask the burning question of the day: How does he look? Ahm, sorry! 1) I'd be asking my husband, and 2) he wouldn't know. But he said that Sen. Kerry was the best speaker.

[karynnj]

1. Cool

I never realized how busy Senators are - I knew the do nothing line the Republicans had was wrong, but didn't realize until following your (and other) posts how hard he (and the other Senators) work. Factoring the time they obviously need to read or hear about issues and to write speeches etc., I'm amazed at their commitment. (Even with a staff)

[sandnsea]

2. waiting with baited breath

and all of that... I'm jealous again!!!

[ginnyinWI]

3. I hear ya on 1) and 2)

I couldn't ask, either! ;)

[whometense]

4. Should be fun at the dinner table.

;-)

My husband is fully aware of my Kerry crush, but I do make an effort to keep it to a minimum in his presence. Fair is fair.

Plus, if your husband is anything like mine (and I surmise he is, because of 2) he wouldn't know), they just don't see that stuff.

[TayTay]

5. My husband called me on his long layover at the airport

He said it was quite the day long thing. Quite a list of speakers. I am now officially re-evaluating my decision not to go along. Sigh! Ah, too frickin late.

This was a 'Day on the Hill' sponsored by my Rep, The Honorable Marty Meehan of MA's 5th District. He sends out a notice to people in his District who hold extremely local offices and to other local people to come on down and talk to some of the DC people. My husband thought, what the hell and signed up. (Cheap $49 airfare each way factored heavily in the decision.)

Here is the list of speakers

Rep Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, House Minority Leader
Rep Neal, D-Ma (Springfield)
Rep John Tierney, D-Ma, (Salem)
Sen. John Kerry
Sen. Ted Kennedy
Sen. John McCain
Sen Lindsey Graham was supposed to show, but ended up not making it because he had a floor vote.
There were other speakers who were also Repubs (!!) But I will post the list after my husband gets home.

I think that these types of gatherings for the home folks are probably pretty routine. (Kleeb, anybody, can you back me up on this?) I was deeply impressed that Sen. McCain was on the list. I guess he is still in tight with some of the MA delegation. He was asked a quesiton about the growth of possible third parties in America and if he thinks we are heading in that direction. McCain thought it was a distinct possibility.

Sen. Kennedy brought his two dogs. (I cannot possibly make this stuff up.) Rep Meehan has little kids who were there and Sen. Kennedy would be talking and making a point and then interrupt himself to tell Meehan's kids to mind his dogs. (I cannot possibly make this stuff up.) Teddy was great, but a bit distracted.

Sen. Kerry spoke to the assembly of about 100 Massholes for about 15-20 minutes about national affairs, the Bolton vote in committee yesterday and stuff. Kerry said that the Bolton vote yesterday was actually a throwback to how things used to be on the Hill when you could have actual conversations with people and maybe change some minds. (The vote was a stunner. Nobody was expecting Voinovich to do what he did. It was a really, really, really rare and gratifying moment for this bunch in the Senate.) He also said that this is the most poisoned and polarized time on the Hill in his whole career. There is not much you can do because our side just doesn't have the votes. The Dems have to stick together and try, try and try again to find some good people on the other side to come over and back good legislation. (Sounds like the Sen. Allen's of the world have definitely taken their toll.)

One of the speakers was an Admin staffer, I think. She mentioned that she has a script that she was given to read to Mayors and Town officials who call looking for aid to Cities and Towns. There is no money, there is not likely to be any money forthcoming because the friggin *ies spent it on tax cuts for the rich and their war in Iraq. That's how it is. (This is pretty frickin depressing.)

Anyway, this is what I know so far. I am intrigued and gratified that Graham tried to come and that McCain showed up. I used to think Graham was just another terrible Rethug bastard because of his role in the Clinton impeachment. I have revised that opinion. He is not bad, in so far as he is still a Repub. He wants to work with the people 'across the aisle' but they said he finds it difficult because the atmosphere in general is so bad.

I will have some pics of all the folks named tomorrow night. Be advised, my husband is only marginally better with a camera than I am, so don't get your hopes up too high for great pics. But he did get to ask Sen. Kerry a direct question and get his full attention in an answer. (Okay, now I really wish I had gone. I didnt' know he was gonna be there.) It was a worthwhile event.

[TayTay]

6. Oh, just remembered

Kerry also said that next week is expected to be a killer week. They will be voting on budget stuff and it should be a total headache and nightmare. He is not looking forward to it at all.

[JohnKleeb]

7. I bet

He seems like a real personible guy, I would love to work for him and I am not even a LLL!

[WildEyedLiberal]

8. Hahaha

Kleeb wants to work for him.

I want to "work" for him.

:evilgrin:

[TayTay]

9. My husband didn't know all these people

were going to be there. But he did tell me that Kerry was the best speaker. He talked a lot about national affairs and how difficult it is for Dems right now. Sigh! We have to work hard to change it and so forth.

My husband likes Kerry and has always voted for him. But he is not as much of a supporter as I am. (Well, after meeting him, maybe he will change his mind.)

[sandnsea]

10. That's understandable

I think for women he is like a long cool drink after crawling across the Mojave Desert. Looks, charm, brains, tenderness AND he respects women?? Oh, be still my heart!

My husband supports him too, but not the way I do. How many men can go from intellectual head of state to crawling on the floor reading storybooks to the kiddies to sexy hot in a tuxedo? :loveya:

[JohnKleeb]

11. You've known that

and I knew that about you too.

[k j]

12. I think the...

so called "Kerry Crushies" got nuthin' on you all here. :smoke:

Nice rundown of the day. Thanks for posting, it was great to read. I too am surprised and pleased by Lindsey Graham in the past year. Nothing like his impeachment persona.

[TayTay]

13. My husband told me some more on the ride in today

For WEL, cuz, she is a sweetie-pie and I flat-out luvs her!

The speakers also included James Carville and Tim Roehmer. They talked about the structure of the Democratic Party and how the Dems should be getting their sh*t together and how they are presenting themselves to the country.

Sen. Kerry spoke to the Massachusetts delegation for about 20 minutes, then took questions for 25 more minutes. He spoke at length about the Bolton hearing the day before and about how much partisanship there is in Congress these days. Kerry's points:

1. Thank Gawd for Barbara Boxer. There is a stylistic difference, obviously, between Kerry and Boxer. But that woman is a blessing to the Democratic Party. She speaks her mind, is tenacious and smart and is a great ally to have in a fight. (Sen. Boxer is a deep and good friend to the Mass delegation. She is respected and admired.)

2. The Bolton thing is just disturbing on so many levels. Sen. Kerry specifically stated that John Bolton had lied to the committee. (No use of softer words. Kerry said 'lied' numerous times.) Kerry said that he often wonders when he looks at some of the Repub members of Foreign Relations what the hell they are thinking and how they can possibly back some of these people in their nominations. It is very disturbing. People like Bolton don't belong in a public office. And he flat-out, provably, lied to the committee. This was also when Kerry talked about how divided Congress is and how poisoned the atmosphere is right now on the Hill.

3. The next fight is going to be over the budget next week. Again, this is a huge problem. The Rethugs want money for 'their friends' and to hell with everything else. Kerry stated that if the Rethugs had just left the Clean Air Act alone, we would be better off than we are now. This budget fight is going to be painful. All the ancillary issues that spin off of the budget fight are painful. That's just the state of the union at the moment. (Sigh!)

4. The other humongous fight that is upcoming is on immigration. (McCain mentioned this too. He doesn't want the Minutemen vigilantes on his borders in Arizona, but on the other hand, something has to be done about the illegals coming in. There has to be a policy, a direction that says where we are going on this. And, given that the Rethugs are in charge, be afraid, be very afraid about this.) Kerry is hoping to put something reasonable together with some of the few remaining Repubs who are moderates, but this is going to be one hellacious fight.

The Senator was asked, in a round-about New England way, how are you doing. (We care. Just, we aren't going to get in your face about it. We want to know if you are okay and whole and getting over the defeat and such. We just can't ask you personal questions like that to your face, cuz they are personal. So the questions were asked in a round-about way.) Kerry stated that he is doing very well and is transitioning back to his job as a Senator. It has taken a while because the whole Presidential run was amazing and completely consuming and then, bang, over. (He said that he had hoped to welcome Rep. Meehan's yearly Mass Hill event to the East Room of the White House, but it was not meant to be.) He is recovering himself and getting back to his regular Senatorial life. It sounded like he was ready and resigned to the fights that will consume Capitol Hill for the next few years.

So, that is the update.

[WildEyedLiberal]

15. He is doing everything like he should

But that last bit makes me sad. Dammit, I'll just have to work to make sure he ends up in the White House eventually.

[TayTay]

16. Me too! But I sense that the transitioning back to the Senate

is going to be very, very interesting. If today's floor speech is any indcation, the REthugs better watch out. That was amazing.

Oh baby, was that ever great! Not in a TayTay wonky way, but in a "OMG, I want that guy, now!" way. OMG!

[WildEyedLiberal]

17. In a WEL kind of way, you mean

:evilgrin:

Where can I watch this amazing speech?

And yeah, I agree that he'll hav to transition back to the Senate and kick ass there for a few years to build up some more cred to run for prez again. So it's all good.

WEL, who is tired and can't seem to write complete sentences today.

[TayTay]

18. I have no ideer! It was live on C-Span2

I'm not sure if you can ask for specific speeches from C-Span. I will try and find out.

The worst case scenario is we have the speech from the Congressional Record. But, you need to see this. On Fire.

Glorious. Just glorious! :loveya: :evilgrin: :loveya: :evilgrin: :loveya: :evilgrin: :loveya: :evilgrin:
(Geez, I should just get a room!)

[whometense]

19. You MUST see it

It was just fantastically, jaw-droppingly awesome. (Downside, even more LLL's panting after him than there were before).

http://www.crooksandliars.com/ often has video.

[whometense]

20. Text on Kerry's website

here: http://kerry.senate.gov/v3/cfm/record.cfm?id=236759

Of course, it's missing something...:evilgrin:

[foreverdem]

14. HA!

I'd tell him to "work" me!

[JI7]

21. how were Kerry and McCain with each other ?

did your husband say anything about that ?

[TayTay]

22. They didn't appear together

Kerry did his speech just after lunch and McCain was the last speaker. They didn't intersect at all. Sigh!

[sandnsea]

24. Speaks volumes...

don't you think?

[fedupinBushcountry]

23. C-Span 2

Right now they are showing debate on Bolton, don't know if JK will be on or not. Have to wait and see.