Beltway Happenings

June 21, 2005--DNC Chair Gov. Howard Dean and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) were among many speakers to address the crowd at the DNC's "Paint the Nation Blue" fundraiser held at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.  At the time Durbin was at the center of a mini- controversy over a remark he had made about the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay.  The RNC research department issued a one-pager headlined "Red-in-the Face Democrats try to 'Paint the Nation Blue.'"  "It Will Take More Than A Coat Of Blue Paint To Cover-Up Sen. Dick Durbin And The Democrats' Wild-Eyed Rhetoric," the release stated.  However attendees at this event were enthusiastic; one man waved a yardstick with cardboard sign taped to it that read, "Give 'Em Hell Howard."  The DNC reported that 1,000 people attended and the event brought in $700,000.

Copyright © 2005  Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action