Party for a Future Congresswoman

     Greetings to you, my fellow readers.  You grace me yet again with your presence.  But enough flattery . . . let us get on with our tale.  April 8th was a joyous occasion for about three reasons.  Firstly, and I had the opportunity to journey downtown with my Advanced Biology class and bear witness to preserved organs, bones, and muscle mass at the "Body's Revealed" exhibit.  While having lunch at the nearby Crown Center, my pleasure doubled when I ran into a good friend of mine - now in college at UMKC.  In addition to the exhibit, as many of you were aware, yesterday marked the end of tax season, and the end of my accountant father's torment.  And last, I come to the main event that capped the day for me - my encounter with the former Kansas City mayor and, hopefully, future congresswoman, Kay Barnes.

     My politically-active grandmother was the one who gave me this splendid chance.  She extended to me the date, time, and location of a local party/fundraiser being held for Kay Barnes.  I had been aware that this woman had been mayor of K.C. for about 8 years - during which she had been responsible for revitalizing the downtown area, specifically with the recent addition of the Sprint Cent

er and the Power and Light District - and was now in a race for the seat of the 6th Congressional District.  Currently, the seat is being held by incumbent Republican Sam Graves, who I have not had the chance to meet despite visiting both his local office in Liberty and his office in D.C.

    The party was being held at Bob Saunder's house.  His involvement in politics/public service goes way back, from being a former mayor of my town, to chairing democratic committees and being elected as a National Democratic Convention Delegate for Barack Obama.  He even ran for MO state representative twice, though he lost both times, with my father being his treasurer.  So, I arrived

 at his house at 5:30 pm, bringing along with me three other Young Democrats Club members, including our intrepid president.  We all figured that we would end up being some of the few, if only kids at this small gathering.  I think the abu

ndance of Buicks parked at the house hinted at this.

    Yet despite this age discrepancy, we managed to have a good time.  There was free food - appetizers - provided, along with good conversation and fellowship.  We talked politics and current events, and made connections with the Kay for Congress Campaign.  She gave an informative speech to the group about how the campaign was fundraising over a million dollars just too match that of Sam Graves, who has been targeted for support by President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

    My hope is that the connections established at this party will be a jump-start for Young Democrats at Liberty next year during the election season.   This would make a splendid opportunity for the Young Dems to get their feet wet in some real grass-roots politics - the kind of campaigning that it will ultimately take for Kay Barnes to win.

    Till next time . . .