Vassar Democrats meet John Kerry in NYC

Anita Varma News Editor

A crowd of more than 400 people waited for him. When he arrived, they cheered and shouted. They wanted to shake his hand and stand near him for a moment, even if it meant being in line for hours.
This mass of voters had gathered to greet Senator John Kerry and his wife, Teresa Heinz-Kerry. Within the crowd were nine members of the Vassar student body— the executive board of Vassar’s chapter of College Democrats.

On the evening of Monday, Sept. 20, these nine students drove to New York City to attend the function.

“It was actually a fundraiser,” said Vassar College Democrats President Michael Donnelly ’07. “They made over four million dollars.”

In terms of students, only Vassar and New York University were represented. “NYU is the only school that is generally invited since Kerry had just spoken there, but it was for state-wide College Democrats of New York state,” said Donnelly. “I’m the legislative director of that, so I asked if I could bring some people along.”

Tickets opened for reservation to NYU students and were all reserved fewer than two hours after the university announced they were available.

Vassar students who attended the fundraiser included Donnelly, Sarah Hanson ’07, Daniel Ross ’06, Kelly Peterman ’07, Tyler Crosby ’07, Erin James ’07, Lauren Rosenberg ’06, Ryan White ’06, and Ross Weingarten ’07.

After waiting in line and finding places to stand in the crowded room, the audience watched as Teresa Heinz-Kerry introduced her husband and spoke about problems in the choices President Bush has made. “One of the best points she made was about health care,” said Hanson.

“She talked about the [nation’s] ‘sinful condition’ because of George Bush's decisions,” said Hanson. “I think the whole audience gasped when she said that, but she qualified that she didn’t mean it religiously.”

“[Kerry] also talked about health care. He made a lot of jokes about the Yankees and the Red Sox,” continued Hanson. “He was also joking around about being so close to Bush that evening. He said if you were looking to find him, you just had to keep turning right.”

Kerry’s speech expressed his gratitude for support from the state of New York, and addressed the areas where his opponent has not fulfilled campaign promises. “Values when they’re spoken only in campaign speeches and not acted upon are only slogans— and we’re tired of slogans,” said Ross, quoting Kerry.

“He talked about the importance of not taking a vacation with the threat of Al-Quaeda and airplanes, and funding things that Bush hasn't, like education,” added Hanson.

Also, Kerry stressed three words: the Supreme Court. “He said it to get the voters energized,”said Ross. “In his calculation, there are four justices that may retire in the next four years, only two of which would be needed to reverse Roe v. Wade and other important decisions.”

Vassar students enjoyed Kerry’s public speaking skills and engaging nature. There was a noted difference in seeing Kerry speak in-person than on television. “It was really great to hear him talk. You could tell that he was really careful in what he said, which doesn’t always come across on TV,” said Hanson.

“I don’t know if I was as impressed with his speech itself as his delivery,” said Ross. “He’s my senator, and there’s been a lot of talk that he’s aloof, that it’s hard to get to him. In this speech, it didn’t feel that way. He was really listening to what people said when they shook hands.”
When the speeches finished, people lined up to shake hands with the Kerrys. “It was kind of fast, but Kelly [Peterman] said to [Kerry], ‘I really want to work in your State Department.’ He said ‘Sure, I’d love to have you,’” said Hanson. “We were all really excited.”

In addition to the Kerrys, prominent members of the Democratic Party were available at the fund-raiser. “Erin, Lauren and I met the Democratic National Convention Chairman Terry McAuliffe, who’s a celebrity in his own right. He’s the biggest fundraiser of the Democrats,” said Donnelly. “We talked for about five minutes about getting students to vote. He said that it was the most effective thing we could be doing.”

While several speakers other than Kerry spoke at the fundraiser, students agreed that the most interesting part of their trip was seeing the presidential candidate. “Being able to see [Kerry] in person, especially in comparison to our current president was the best part,” said Hanson. “He made eye contact with the crowd, and he was responding to what his wife said. It felt like he was really thinking about what he was saying.”