The Stars Come Out for John Kerry (L.A. Fundraiser - LONG)

Tonight at the fabulous, palatial Greenacres estate of Ron Burkle, the "A-List" of Hollywood came together with the political movers and shakers of the city to toast the standard bearer of the Democratic Party, John F. Kerry.

Everywhere you looked, you saw someone famous. Barbra. Jennifer and Brad. Ben Affleck. Meg Ryan. Leonardo DiCaprio. Lucy Liu. Dustin Hoffman. Danny Devito. Kevin Costner. Henry Winkler. Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor. Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen. The list goes on and on.

Now, add to that list the business and political legends of the city and state. Eli Broad. Haim Saban. Warren Christopher. Governor Gray Davis (and yes he is still my Governor, goddamnit). Arianna Huffington. Practically every major elected Democratic official in the area.

Mix well, add a dash of comedy and music, and you have a fine recipe for a Democratic record-breaking $3.2 million hard money event.

The organizers had hoped for 800 people. They got 2,200. The lines were long, and the diligence of the Secret Service made for a longer wait, but by and large everyone was in good spirits with one mission paramount in their minds: to reclaim the White House for the American people.

The emcee was Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa, the Kerry campaign's national co-chair and a towering political figure in Los Angeles. With a rousing opening, he pointed out Senator Kerry and his family as they walked into the crowd. Then he introduced the first entertainment of the evening, comedian Larry David, the co-creator of Seinfeld and the writer and star of Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Larry had us all in stitches as he expounded upon his qualifications for the position of Vice-President. "Senator Kerry, you need someone who can offset Bush. I mean, you've already got all of the A and B students. You need a Vice-President who can bring in all of the C, D and F students. Because otherwise, you know that Bush is going to run away with all of 'em!"

"You need someone who's a complete nincompoop. That's me, and I'm not even kidding. You need someone who's not afraid to lie. Again, me. I am a very good liar. And when it comes to winning the chickenhawk vote? I may not be much of a hawk, but no one is as much of a chicken as me. You're never going to get the chicken vote, with your Silver and Bronze Stars. So that's what you need, you need a nincompoop liar chicken who can take all of Bush's strengths away from him."

"But I tell you, if -- God forbid, and we tend to say that a lot -- God forbid, if anything were to happen to you, and I became the President, well, we're completely fucked. Because you know America's in trouble when a nincompoop liar chicken is in charge of the country."

OK, so it was a lot funnier than my feeble efforts to transcribe. Larry David is a comedic genius, and both his delivery and his message were pitch perfect.

Next up was former Secretary of State Warren Christopher. Chris gave a serious, almost somber speech, but it was one that really struck home everything that's at stake in this upcoming election. He emphasized the reckless nature of Bush's foreign policy, and the importance of rebuilding our international relations. He talked about North Korea, and the Middle East, and our relations with our traditional allies, and of course Iraq. He discussed how Bush had exacerbated every single problem.

After that came the man of the hour, John Kerry. He graciously thanked his family in attendance (his wife Theresa, his daughters Vanessa and Alexandra, and his stepson Chris Heinz) and of course, our fine host, Ron Burkle. He thanked all of the speakers (although he politely declined Larry David's generous offer to be VP). And he launched into the best speech that I've ever heard him give.

He spoke of his time in Vietnam, and how being on the front lines really gave him perspective, how he would never, ever send troops into battle lightly. "America should never go to war because we want to. America should only go to war because we HAVE to."

He spoke of returning from Vietnam, listening to RFK's Super Tuesday victory speech, and then learning the next day that he had been assassinated. He quoted RFK's quote of George Bernard Shaw: "Some men see things as they are and say 'why?' I dream things that never were and say, 'why not?'"

He spoke of the critical importance of repairing our standing in the world and with our allies, and how he would do that within the first two months of his administration, if he is elected President. He spoke of Bush's reckless economic programs and ruinous taxation policy to benefit the super-rich at the expense of ordinary, everyday Americans who play by the rules. He spoke of three words concerning a possible Bush re-election that should terrify any American who cares about freedom: The Supreme Court. He spoke of the critical need to have an Attorney General whose name is NOT John Ashcroft.

He discussed the issues, from abortion rights, to gay rights, to creating and keeping jobs in America, to fundamental tax fairness, to clean air and water, to decent public schools, to ending violence against women.

He spoke of an America that we remember with pangs of fondness and remorse for what we have lost these past few years, and of an America that we can find again, that we can reclaim for the entire American people, not just for a privileged few.

John Kerry's speech was interrupted by numerous standing ovations, and the spirit of unity within the crowd was a palpable thing. The determination to defeat the reactionary, radical right policies and Presidency of George W. Bush was almost frightening in its intensity. But coupled with that determination was the certainty that our standard bearer is a man of fundamental decency, of integrity, of conviction. He is a man who has fought for his country for 35 years, and will continue to do so for the rest of his life, for his life has always been about service.

After that, he introduced his friend James Taylor, whose voice was as sweet and as strong as it ever was, even decades ago. Truth to be told, many people began streaming for the exits after John Kerry completed his speech. They had heard the main event, and many wanted to try to beat the inevitably enormous lines for the valet or the shuttle. Yet Taylor took it in stride and in good humor, at one point ad-libbing during a song, "For those who are still here." But for the people who stayed, they were treated to six of his classic hits, with the last two being incredible renditions of "Fire and Rain" and "You've Got a Friend."

The evening was an unqualified success. John Kerry will raise more money in March than even his opponent. He will set Democratic fundraising records. And I wager he will raise more than $80 million before the convention. While we cannot match George W. Bush's war chest, we will come close, and we will get our message out, our strong, confident message as delivered by our standard bearer, John F. Kerry.

He leads. I will follow. And I hope you will join me.

DTH

Let the freepers bitch about Hollywood.

I also think he should seek endorsements from sports personalities. Let the freepers bitch about the NFL.

repukes can eat their hearts out as they have to settle for hack 2nd stringers and has been "actors". :evilgrin:

and the Larry David transcription made me laugh, so don't be so hard on yourself.

Did you meet any of the more famous attendees?

Really, really down-to-earth guy. He was talking about promoting a T-Shirt that (I think) benefits local schools.

And I sat right near Gray Davis and shook his hand.

DTH

I thoroughly enjoyed reading every word. Thanks for taking the time to write and post it to DU.

thanks for posting

It was so crowded that you could barely move. I spoke to maybe 30 people and only one person had ever donated to a candidate before. All were angry and motivated to get Bush out. All were very informed about what Bush has done. I've heard that Kerry hopes to raise $100 million. :bounce:

nice to see she is on our side from the start on this. i know she voted for al gore in 2000 but she didn't really endorse him or campaign for him. she tries hard to be as unbiased as possible and it's good, but there are limits when one has to see that even with all the negatives on the democratic side it does not come close to being as bad and harmful as the republicans are. i'm glad gray davis was there, i'm still upset about the recall. but john kerry did support davis and campaigned with him. only wes clark and john kerry brought up davis' military service when they camapigned together but davis never did. i with he had. he should have run a few ads with it included in it.

i voted for antonio villaraigosa for mayor and although i'm happy with james hahn i think villaraigosa would have been great and i still see a bigger future for him in politics. he was one of kerry's first and best supporters. stayed strongly on his side through it all. when you see villaraigosa you understand part of the reason kerry did so well in the primary. people like him who really believe in kerry worked hard to help kerry win.

HAHAHAH. That was priceless.

And the fervor with which everyone is uniting is what it wil take to oust these frauds in the White House.

Boy, does Larry David have them pegged perfectly.

the home of "GOP, Kristian Kountry Music"!

WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!


:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:


:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)

:kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick:

Also, Gray Davis is still the "Real" Governor of California.

Ahhnuld is the "Reichstag Fire Fuhrer" of California!!!

Johnny Cash and his whole family, Rodney Crowell, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill and many more.

I did NOT say that all people in Nashville are bad. Nashville is a quite the Liberal City for the south.

My reference to Nashville has to do with the fact that it is home to a format of music that is primarily right wing.

Hollywood has a few conservatives too.

I would have probably passed out being the same room with Barbra!

I have a question, does any one know if Theresa's other two sons have been out on the stump?

I've only seen Chris.

I would have to vote for a Kerry/Larry David ticket! :evilgrin:

Thanks so much, DTH. I love hearing this stuff.

Thanks for reporting DTH.

He must have come over from the dark side, or maybe he got tired of seeing the same two or three has-beens at every repuke event.