Click the images to enlarge them. All photos are courtesy of Debbie Adams Photography. You may see the entire album by going to the site and entering the login name JJ (capitalized; case sensitive) and password 081905.
Wow!
To each and every one of you who came to the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner last Friday (and to those of you who could not come but gave us your support) we wish we could embrace you right this minute and say a heartfelt "Bravo!" We can't remember ever feeling more exhilarated by a showing of party spirit and Party participation. It was pretty damned awesome. Indeed, as Nora Wallace said in the News-Press, the evening "trumpeted activism and empowerment," and that joyful noise didn't come only from the speakers. It came from everyone in the room.
It came from the musicians (one of whom, Arnie Moore, is the scion of a famous California Democratic family) and their leader, RJ Eskow, 
who put his whole Democratic heart into preparation for the event and into his performance.
It came from Carol Ann Manzi, who stirred our patriotic longings with her deeply felt rendition of "America, the Beautiful"...
...and from Marian Shapiro, who raised us to our feet in a hand-clapping, sing-along finale, Woodie Guthrie's great populist anthem, "This Land is Your Land" — for which Marian wrote additional lyrics (below the fold) that brought it all home.
It even came from the caterers, who know what great food can do to make a party memorable, and wanted to — and did — give us their very best.
Senator Wyden (seen here receiving the torch from Frank Kelly, fabled Truman speechwriter and the "institutional memory" of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions) said, "I'm going to be walking out of here feeling very good about where the Democratic Party is and what we can do with talent and energy like I've seen in this room..."
We should be proud, Santa Barbara County grassroots Democrats. Very very proud — that we're doing whatever we can, every day, to help win back our State House, to help win back our Senate and House of Representatives, to help win back our White House, to help win back our Constitution and our country.
— Barbie & Ellen
