In which a weekend on Martha's Vineyard isn't a day at the beach...

[brooklynite]

I am sitting poolside at a hotel in Edgartown on Martha's Vineyard. Kids are swimming and parents are lolling in lounge chairs. It could be any group of vacationers, except that the reading material Is tending towards copies of POLITICO and THE HILL, and Bernie Sanders is rather unpretentiously sitting in his swimsuit across the way.

I'm here to attend a "summer retreat" for DSCC's top donors, and this is the only free time in the calendar. There's a policy briefing at breakfast tomorrow, meetings with two liberal Super PAC's, a fundraiser for Senator Franken (he called; how could I say no?), and a variety of social events to give people a chance to meet prospective new candidates. I've already had a 20 minute chat with General Sanchez, and I'm hoping Elizabeth Warren might be attending.

(brief pause ; Al Franken just stopped by)

This sort of event tends to get a lot of bad press, amid allegations that it's just an opportunity for lobbyists to chat up politicians for their pet issues, but so far the attendees I've met have been "ordinary"; mostly couples, certainly successful financially, but supportive of traditional Democratic policies, and able to support candidates and the Party at a higher level. Would it be nice if we had publicly funded campaigns? Of course it would, and I suspect most of the Senators and candidates here would agree, since they have to spend inordinate amounts of time calling me and other donors for support throughout the two years leading up to each election. But this is the electoral system we have, absent a constitutional amendment, and if the Republicans are going to raise buckets of money, we have to as well.

In my conversations, I plan to bring up the status of elimination of DOMA, and expanding our infrastructure spending. I'll also being trying to arrange meetings between Senators and candidates and "real" Democrats in the NYC area who can't afford programs like this. I'll put together a summary of what I hear next week.

[Suich]

1. Nice, brooklynite!

Looking forward to reading about what you hear!

K&R!

:yourock:

[calimary]

5. Yeah - me too!

Thanks for posting, brooklynite! That should be pretty doggone fascinating!

[jberryhill]

2. Don't forget to take some time to jump off the trestle bridge up on Beach Road

...at low tide.

[babylonsister]

3. Thanks for sharing; sounds like fun. Heck, I'd go just to 'do'

Martha's Vineyard. You have perks!

[TaupeDem]

4. Am I seriously supposed to be happy about this? Here's my itinerary

Haul the little plastic pool out of the garage

Fill it up with the hose

Sit on the old summer chair that has material that criss crosses and that's torn in a lot of places

Hope I don't fall through the holes and fall on my fat butt

Get a little adventurous and put my feet in the pool

Have a conversation with the neighbors Bobby and Dan

Hope that Bobby and Dan put the beer down before they start arguing with each other and their wives

Throw some frozen burgers on the grill and hope I don't get lost in the lap of luxury and they burn so hard that you could use them as hockey pucks

Go to bed on the mattress whose springs are popping out everywhere

Have a great time!

[calimary]

6. We're settling in for the weekend, getting out of the way of "Carmageddon" here in L.A.

Lots of pet food and kitty litter for the critters. Lots of chocolate and fresh fruit and some exotic cheeses and my husband's Sexiest Home-Made Chicken-Apple Sausage and Tortellini Soup in the World. Regardless where you are in L.A., surface streets are apt to be rather constricted. Not driving anywhere this weekend if we can help it!

Then again, this could be completely 180-degrees the other way. I can still remember the 1984 LA Olympics. There was this one day that was widely referred to as "Black Friday" because there were Olympic events strewn across Southern California from Santa Barbara southward to Orange County and all parts in between. Traffic was expected to be utter madness and coverage leading up to that Friday was very much like the whole "Carmageddon" thing. Result? No Gordian Knots in the commute - at all! Either everyone stayed home, did flex-time at work, or got outta town. "Black Friday" turned out to be the best, safest, and swiftest commute day of the year. It was amazing how smoothly and rapidly the freeways flowed!

We were out earlier, about 3:30, and traffic on the surface streets around us was moving really smoothly and there wasn't a lot of it. And on a Friday afternoon no less. Could certainly become worse from there but ordinarily a Friday afternoon at 3:30pm is gonna be bumper-to-bumper.

At any rate, we're staying in - out of all that. It'll be quiet. No boys or their pals and girlfriends. The band's on tour, moving through the Midwest: Detroit tonight, Youngstown Ohio Saturday, and Newark Delaware on Sunday.

BTW - if I dare be obnoxious here (moreso than usual) my kid's award-winning alt-rock band ACIDIC will be playing on Bleecker Street in New York City - the Village I believe - on Tuesday the 19th, Worcester MA on Wednesday the 20th, Brooklyn NY on Thursday the 21st, Secaucus NJ on Saturday July 23rd, Philadelphia on Sunday the 24th. Then, heading back west, St. Louis on Wednesday July 27th, Joplin MO on Thursday the 28th, Denver on Saturday the 30th, and they wrap up this leg of their touring on Sunday July 31st in Las Vegas! Just in case anybody's interested...

:headbang:

[nilram]

7. Right on. I hope you'll mention that the DOD should be taken off the sacred cow list.

And creating demand by putting more money in the pockets of "ordinary americans" makes more jobs than subsidies for businesses.

Just my 2c...

[brooklynite]

8. Had dinner next to Bernie Sanders. Think he would agree with you.

[nilram]

9. Super. I hope you'll be preaching to people who aren't in the choir, too.

[Snotcicles]

10. A big old K&R, along with a thank you brooklynite for doing your part.

I only wish I could be there too.