Dear Friend,
It is my pleasure to invite you to join me at the 50th Anniversary celebration of the New Hampshire Democratic Party's annual 100 Club Dinner.
Not only am I not her "Dear Friend," but it's sheer presumption to suggest that her "pleasure," is of any interest to anyone. Moreover, it's unlikely that the Senator has reserved a seat at her table, much less purchased a ticket just for me.
First held in 1959, the dinner was originally organized by New Hampshire activists and has since served as a place to celebrate our party's victories and the spirit of New Hampshire voters.
Perhaps that's why New Hampshire's activists aren't seeing their victories represented on the floor of the United States Senate. We're supposed to be satisfied with an annual supper.
My favorite 100 Club memory was the first dinner I ever attended in 1975. My candidate was a little known peanut farmer from Georgia among a field of better known candidates such as Mo Udall, Birch Bayh and Sargent Shriver. Jimmy Carter impressed the crowd that night and months later New Hampshire voters helped launch his insurgent campaign for the White House. I also remember how impressed I was with the grandeur of my first 100 Club event -- women in ball gowns and men in tuxedos. All these years later, the dress code may have changed, but the enthusiasm and passion of New Hampshire activists for our candidates and our values has never wavered.
Who cares, lady? What are we to think of someone, who supported the invasion and occupation of Iraq and the targeting of insurgents with hellfire missiles and 500 pound bombs, referring to Jimmy Carter, the undisputed champion of human rights, as launching an "insurgent campaign" in his quest for the White House?
It is that enthusiasm and dedication of New Hampshire voters to the political process that continues to make the 100 Club Dinner a unique and special tradition in Democratic politics.
Perhaps. But invitations going out this late suggest that the enthusiasm of New Hampshire Democrats leaves something to be desired. On the other hand, it's possible that the Senator is just in a "me too" mood.
I hope you will join me on Sunday, March 29, 2009 at the Radisson Hotel in Nashua, NH as we celebrate 50 years of some of New Hampshire's most memorable moments in politics and look ahead for more to come.
Sincerely,
Senator Jeanne Shaheen
Not a chance. I've got better things to do with my time and money than to spend them cavorting with devotees of the political process, who seem to consider getting along to be more important than making progress towards universal health care, energy efficiency and the peaceful resolution of conflicts.
P.S. Blame JimC. I wasn't sure I wanted to write this until I read his diary. While I happen to think that a woman has a right to defend herself against an intrusive bundle of foreign cells, the cold-blooded killing of an independent person has to be considered murder, regardless of whether the legislature approves it. That Jeanne Shaheen set a precedent for John Lynch is deplorable. That she's now touting her experience as governor to justify her intransigence in the Senate is more so.
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