jane_hamsher_kombiz.thumbnail.jpgI’m looking at the crowd on TV already swelling at the National Mall in 18 degree weather and thinking many have got to be hurting from lack of sleep and too much fun the night before.  Last night the biggest challenge was not getting into the parties but getting to them as police blocked off one road after another in anticipation of today’s festivities.   It wasn’t until the wee hours that the revelers returned to Kamp Kobe, and most were up at 5:30 this morning in anticipation of transportation challenges and long lines at the security checkpoints. 

Yesterday afternoon CommonSense Media sponsored a party that The Daily Voice threw honoring African American leaders like Joseph Lowery, Corey Booker and Dean Alfreda Robinson.  DeVeria, Pach and I finally got to close the virtual divide and meet Malcom Harris and Keith Boykin, the founders of the site, in person.  Many in the crowd had gone to school with Obama or worked on the campaign, and it was a very moving affair.  The Daily Voice is officially one year old now and I really recommend checking them out,  it’s sort of a black Huffington Post that plays host to commentators from across the political spectrum.  

We then went over to the Clarendon Ballroom in Arlington Netroots Nation "blogger ball" that FDL co-sponsored.  It was kind of scary to see how well we can all clean up.  Mary and Raven of NN did a great job with the party and the place was packed.  Gregg Levine, Marcy Wheeler, Spencer Ackerman, Lisa Derrick, Pach and DeVeria all made a showing on behalf of FDL.  It was interesting to see what politicians showed up to work the room — Howard Dean, Alan Grayson, Brian Moran.  We had to leave  around 9:30 when reports came in that the MoveOn party had a line around the block and that the HuffPo party had 3000 RSVPs for 1500 spots.  

We were almost home by the time we realized we’d forgotten John Amato.  I felt like a mom who left her kid in the Safeway.

Anyway, that crisis was quickly resolved and while some went to MoveOn, we went to HuffPo.  They’d closed off the streets for blocks around so I put on my Ugg boots under my cocktail dress, carried my high heels and schlepped.  There was a mob around the front entrance but we followed Andrew Rasiej who looked like he knew what he was doing and were soon inside.

Once we were safely in the doors I stepped back into my shoes and we had a great time.  Arianna wanted everyone there by midnight so we could all celebrate the end of the Bush era together.   Sting, Wil.i.am and Sheryl Crow performed but it was hard to tell if the acoustics just sucked or if they were all…limited.  But the party was fun — Jose Antonio Vargas, Chris Hayes, Karl Frisch, Ken Mehlman, Murshed Zaheed, Joe Sudbay, James Boyce, Eddie Vale, Christy Heffner, Marshall Ganz, Brian Komar, Rick Jacobs, Tony Podesta, Craig Newmark, Joel Silberman, Jacki Schechner, Sam Stein, Tom Edsall, Kombiz Lavasany (pictured w/me above) were in attendance.

About halfway through the evening I said "screw this" and put my Uggs back on and walked around the party in a cocktail dress and black fur boots.  I soon saw someone else carrying their heels and wearing their Uggs under a ball gown.  

I think it’s a fashion trend.