Great night for progressive policy last evening, as the Drum Major Institute gathered its friends and supporters at Cipriani's shiny 23rd Street cavern. David Simon, writer and creator of HBO's brilliant The Wire, was the headliner and he hit his marks on the first take: "If you want to watch this election and find out what anyone thinks about housing policy or cities or No Child Left Behind, short of the most grandiose statements -- knowledge is good, education is good, everyone should have housing -- it is a vacuum. We elect people in a vacuum." Here's more:
Also receiving honors were NYC Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito and PowerPAC.org founder Steve Phillips - just after the fab DMI video starring Andrea Batista-Schlesinger, who was sleek and non-partisan (she tweaked Obama and McCain). Obama-Clinton discussions were kept at a whisper in the corners, and no one came to blows - though potential mayor opponents Bill Thompson and Christine Quinn added a certain electoral tension to the air around the bar (Dawn Barber agreed with me). DMI being the world's best-wired think tank, bloggers abounded: Lindsay Beyerstein wore two hats - photographer and netroots committee member, and handled both chores with aplomb. HuffPo regular Naomi Wolf, techPresident co-founder Andrew Rasiej, and the prolific Lance Mannion made the scene. Live Bait barely survived the after-party libations as Jason Chervokas tucked into his chicken-friend steak, Bruce Bernstein argued about Ernie Banks and the shortstop's trade policy, the Village Voice's Roy Edroso dished some Mets dirts and Julia from Sisyphus Shrugged (and her whip-smart daughter) recalled the good old days of united Democratic blogging back in November, 2006. Ah yes.
