having A Gala
Jewish fetes abound as Democrats convene in L.A.
TOM TUGEND
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Los Angeles
he official agenda of the
Democratic Party may be to
nominate Vice President Al
Gore and Sen. Joseph
Lieberman as their standard bearers, but
the real business was to party 24 hours a
day, raise millions of dollars and tell the
Jews what wonderful folks they are.
President Bill Clinton, addressing
nearly 4,000 Jews at an outdoor party
on Sunday afternoon, quoted comedi-
an Red Buttons that "in Los Angeles,
the Democrats are changing their
theme song from 'Happy Days Are
Here Again' to `Hava Nagila.'"
Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.)
keynoted an elegant fund-raiser for the
American Israel Public Affairs
Committee on Saturday night and
wound up a somewhat disjointed speech
by declaring, "I wish I were a Jew"
Between Saturday and Thursday,
there were an estimated 100 conven-
tion parties a day, 80 percent by invi-
tation only.
Somewhere near the top in cachet
and money-raising prowess was the
$100,000-a-couple brunch, to benefit
the Clinton Library, at Barbra Streisand's
Malibu digs Sunday morning.
Even more exclusive were the small
parties thrown, by billionaires David
Geffen and Gary Winnick, presumably
for friends of similar financial standing.
For the merely affluent, plastic sur-
geon Steven Teitelbaum, a new player,
threw a $1,000-a-head party for and
with Hillary Rodham Clinton, to aid
her Senate race in New York.
Serious Talk
Some parties combined conviviality with
a more serious purpose, such as the one
at the home of Mel Levine, a Gore for-
eign policy adviser, who gave his guests a
chance to talk with Leon Fuerth, the
vice president's longtime national securi-
ty aide.
There were even some free parties,
such as the one at the Sony Pictures
movie set (formerly MGM), addressed
by both Clintons. The hosts —
Other Voices
National Jewish Democratic Council,
Only a few pessimists ventured, off
AIPAC, United Jewish Communities
the record, to throw some cold water
and the Jewish Federation of Greater
on the near-universal enthusiasm.
Los Angeles — proved that Jewish
They warned that a number of liber-
organizations can pull together and
als would be turned off by
even provide soft drinks and a light
Lieberman's centrist politics, that
buffet for the multitudes.
many Americans might vent a latent
The National Jewish Democratic
antisemitism in the polling booth
Council took the opportunity to debut
and even voiced the old tribal fear
its new campaign button, with photos of that excessive Jewish visibility invites
the Democratic and Republican presi-
later retribution.
dential contenders. The photo of the
An unexpected presence at the
Democrat is identified as "Gore," and
weekend's festivities was the family of
the photo of a puffy-cheeked George W.
the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak
Bush as "gornisht"
Yiddish for "noth-
Rabin. Clinton, who greatly admired
ing." Democrats for Israel weighed in
him, announced that just before his
with buttons in which Gore's name was
plane touched down in Los Angeles,
spelled out in Hebrew
he had talked by phone to Leah
Most of the fund-raising, and spot-
Rabin, widow of the prime minister,
light, benefited Bill and Hillary Clinton.
who is in the United States for med-
But the first couple promised to leave
ical treatment.
town after addressing the Democratic
Rabin's son, Yuval, appeared at the
convention Monday evening, to the
Mel Levine party. He has been quietly
relief of the Gore campaign.
The platform for launching a
volley of pro Jewish encomia has
been the nomination of
Lieberman as the Democratic
vice presidential candidate.
Guests at the AIPAC party at
the Beverly Hills home of Herb
and Beverly Gelfand — "I always
wanted to live in a house like
this," Rockefeller said — were
ecstatic about Gore's selection of
Lieberman as a validation and
empowerment of American
Jewry.
Actor Richard Dreyfuss, at the
Mel Levine party, praised the
Lieberman candidacy as "fabu-
lous," even agreeing with some
of the senator's criticisms of
Hollywood, which have raised
hackles elsewhere in the enter-
Detroit's Joel Tauber, right, chats with Secretary of
tainment industry.
Agriculture Dan Glickman, center, and Secretary of Energ y
Bill Richardson at a Sunday Democratic Party findraiser
Most effusive was Andrew
Cuomo, U.S. secretary of hous-
ing and urban development,
speaking at the Sony studio rally. "We
approaching some well-heeled
share your joy, because if the Jews can
Democrats to raise funds for the
make it, then Italian Americans can
Yitzhak Rabin Center for Israel
make it, Hispanic Americans can
Studies, to be built in the Ramat Aviv
make it and African Americans can
section of Tel Aviv as a memorial
make it," Cuomo said.
library and educational center.
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8/18
2000
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