It's a little outside my normal patch, but I drove down to Clear Lake last night to attend the Bay Area New Democrats (BAND) party at Tequila Willie's restaurant. The place was packed - at a guess, I'd say 250 people were there. And it was loud and raucous. If the energy and enthusiasm on display there is indicative of the Democratic mood nationwide, 2006 may be a lot of fun.

I got to meet and talk to Shane Sklar early in the evening. He made a couple of interesting observations. On the subject of the relief package for Katrina victims, which Congress overwhelmingly approved last week, his position is concise and intuitive, while Ron Paul needs to make a long speech to be understood. That's a relative rarity for a Democract these days, and he says he's getting a good response from people he's talked to, including people who've generally approved of Paul's "Doctor No" approach in the past. He also noted that Paul, who ran unopposed in his new district in 2004 and isn't all that well-known there, has been busy making appearances there lately. Like Tom DeLay in CD22, he knows he'll have a fight on his hands this year.

The main other piece of gossip I have is that Jim Sharp, who ran for the 1st Court of Appeals last year, is contemplating a run for the State Supreme Court against recent Perry appointee Don Willett, who got the gig as a reward for his political work. There's still a lot of statewide spots on the ballot that need Democratic nominees, so I gave him some encouragement on that score.

Several candidates and candidates' reps made speeches, the best-received of which may have been given by former BAND president Sherrie Matula, who is now a candidate for HD129 and who had her own personal cheering section. I didn't stay for all of this - it's a long drive home and I was fading. A good time was had by all, and if you're in the area I encourage you to seek these folks out. They know how to have fun.