The soft evening light skips from the shimmering pool onto the bougainvillea. The ping of primo crystal echoes off of the sienna stucco. The guests are sleek as seals. The city, the convention, the dreaded delegates do not exist. There are no surprises.
Gods hate surprises.
Details of these affairs are leaked wholesale because hosts like Barbra want it that way. That's also why reporters penetrate the lesser parties at wateringholes like Spago for politicians such as House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt. Occasionally, a convention elevates a politician from snooze to sizzle. This can happen at the podium or a party. Such a transformation occurred this week with Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, a fine man and solid senator who nonetheless can put the cows to sleep up in the Vergennes Valley.