Political Party

So Wifey and I fetched Dr. Kenny, who is my most lefty of friends, and we headed to Joel and Courtney's stately home in the Grove for a fundraiser last night. They promised to put the fun in fundraiser, and they did.

Joel is close with Bill, a criminal defense lawyer, and Bill's sister Mary is running for Congress.  I first met Mary when she was a Circuit judge presiding over a pretty big case Paul and I had. She was sharp, and smart, and ruled right down the middle.  Turns out she and my buddy Norman have known each other since high school, and then there was the Joel connection.

We arrived and I saw Bill outside -- I've always liked him a lot. Years ago, he wanted to get into civil law, and offered to buy our firm. We declined. I wonder whether we should have said yes. I asked Bill if he were the car valet, and we laughed together. He's a big shot lawyer, and enjoys being taken down a few notches.

We parked, and I caught up with Bill. He married 2 years ago, and has a toddler daughter. I was thrilled for him -- he was a confirmed bachelor. 

We got some cocktails, and that gave me a chance to make fun of Joel. In his multi million dollar house, he had the bartender serving Smirnoff vodka. I asked him if despite being Jay Gatsby, he still thought he was in his fraternity at Loyola in NOLA.

Kenny enjoyed meeting many of our old friends -- Michelle, who worked for us and left for the medical marijuana biz, and Liangy, a very young friend of Allison's now somehow 40 and a mother of two.  The years fly.

The candidate arrived, and Bill introduced her. She has a hell of a tale -- middle class Irish family in Miami, and then Dad got sick and they slipped into poverty. Mary became the head of three kids -- washing dishes, waitress, doing whatever she could to get the family through. She won a scholarship to the U, and studied Music, but then went to law school, where she soared. She spoke about how she knows what it's like to suffer without universal health coverage, and to starve on minimum wage.

Mary faces a tough opponent, Donna Shalala. The former U president, and Clintonite, has name recognition and has raised tons of money. She's also old as fuh, as the Ds would say, and to me represents what's wrong with our Democratic party. If Donna really cared about the future, she'd work to elect someone like Mary, but instead her own enormous ego says SHE should be in D.C. -- even though she'd be nearly 80 if she was sworn in.

We'll find out in August, when the primary election takes place.  I'll support and vote for Mary.

The candidates left, and we continued drinking and chatting. Vince and Stu showed up -- as well as Victor, another office mate, and his lovely wife, a social worker. The two met at Brown, and they have a daughter starting there in the Fall. We compared notes about being empty nesters.

Joel's old friend Eddie was there -- I really dig him. He's also a criminal defense lawyer, Irish guy, and lives in Miami Shores. I told him where D1 and Joey are building a house -- he knew it well -- drives by each day to get to his office on Biscayne, and says they'll love it there. Wifey told him she wants to move close by, and he and his wife invited us to be regular guests at their place if we do.  We'll see...

So indeed it was a fundraiser with fun. I hope Mary pulls it off -- it'd be neat to have a friend in D. C. We know the current one, Ileana, but whenever I chat with her, I have to listen for thunder rumbling, since I fear my parents criticizing me from the Great Beyond for helping a Republican. The good news is, whoever wins the primary ought to win in November -- so I can live in a Dem district again.