Apr 02, 2004  |  By: ADELE M. STAN  | COMMENTS     

It was billed as the most successful fund-raising event ever staged by the Democrats, with a reported take of $11 million.

Indeed, the Democrats’ “unity dinner,” staged last Thursday at the National Building Museum, was a sight to behold, bringing together not just disparate elements of the Democratic Party, but of grand-scale events, as well: a little bit circus, a tad awards show and, of course, a little bit rock ‘n’ roll. Part picnic, part gala, guests paid $1,000 each to chaw on barbecue served on plasticware in the museum’s elegant atrium, surrounded by columns of all three orders of classical architecture.

It all contrived to convey the idea of unity embracing diversity, e pluribus unum and all that.

“We are so unified,” said emcee Ann Richards, the former Texas governor, “that before their wives got wind of it, Joe Lieberman and Al Sharpton were on their way to San Francisco for a marriage license.”

President Jimmy Carter, in a rare partisan political appearance, thanked “courageous Howard Dean for drawing a sharp distinction, when it wasn’t really the thing to do,” before going on to chide Ralph Nader for costing the Democrats the 2000 election and making an eloquent case against the turn away from human rights and multilateralism made by the current administration.

The star was clearly President Bill Clinton, who delivered, in a mesmerizing performance, remarks that were by turns eloquent and barbed.

Neither Gore nor Carter nor Clinton mentioned gay marriage, the proposed constitutional amendment to ban it endorsed by President Bush — or any gay-specific issues, for that matter.

John Kerry, who had the misfortune of following Clinton’s sermon, gave the topic an oblique reference. “George Bush, who has promised to be a uniter, has become the great divider,” Kerry intoned. “He has proposed to amend the [U.S.] Constitution for political purposes. He has no right to misuse the most precious document in our history in an effort to divide this nation and distract us from his failures.”

The senator failed to note his own support for amending the Massachusetts constitution, a document with an apparent preciousness deficit, to prohibit gay marriage, recently rendered into law by the commonwealth’s Supreme Court. It’s a surprising turn for a senator who, deeming the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act an act of gay-bashing, stood courageously among a handful who refused to sign it.

Speaking of DOMA, Clinton, the president who signed it into law, briefly spoke with this reporter about it to the annoyance of his phalanx of beefy Secret Service agents.

Just as an agent put his hand up to us, grunting, “No interviews,” I asked the former president, “Will the Republicans be able to use the gay stuff to take down the Democrats?”

“I don’t think so,” he replied. “Kerry just needs to be really strong and straightforward about it.”

Would that he had the time to explain what he meant by strong and straightforward.

“When I signed the Defense of Marriage Act, all it did was to say it’s still a question of state law,” Clinton continued. “That’s the way America’s always been. And I think it’s a mistake to get into this constitutional amendment business. I don’t think it’s right.”

The former is half right; DOMA provides that states need not recognize marriage licenses issued to gay couples in other states. But DOMA also blocked any federal rights and benefits, including Social Security inheritance, from gay couples legally married in any state.

Before leaving, Clinton leaned forward to offer one more bit of advice: “I think the Democrats just need to keep looking for issues that bring us together,” he said.