It was odd walking into The Gym, a sports bar in downtown Lakeland, last night. Instead of the big screens in the corner showing one of the several baseball games that were available, they were on C-SPAN and the Democratic National Convention for John Kerry's acceptance speech. The Gym was the site for one of the "Kerry House Parties" held across the country to watch the event, one of three in Polk County alone! It was a good crowd, with over 40 people cheering along with the delegates and guests in Boston...and the REALLY GREAT THING is that the group was not just the same old Democratic activists you see at the same old events every month! Many of the people were young newbies, excited about the prospects, and the site gave me REAL HOPE for our prospects this fall!

I spoke with the person who hosted a similar event at the All Star Grill in Winter Haven, and she said there was a similar scene among the 30+ in attendance. Many of those were also people who have not been to previous political events, and another like scene was reported by congressional candidate Jeff Siemer when he was as yet another Kerry event.

And while I'm talking politics today, let me note that I'm burning up about Mississippi Senator Trent Lott's comment the other day at the Neshoba County Fair near Philadelphia, MS. It's one thing to call John Kerry a liberal --- even accurate, when you really consider the true defination of the word --- but to call him a "French-speaking socialist..." is truly close to slander. I thought Lott had learned from the last time he stuck his foot in his mouth...and lost his Senate leadership position as a result.