It appears that we we HEARD, as well as SEEN. :o)See also, from the FRENCH News Service (AFP) at www.turkishpress.com:
California Raises Another 3 Million Dollars For KerryAFP: 8/27/2004LOS ANGELES, Aug 27 (AFP) - US Democratic presidential contender John Kerry raised more than three million dollars for his campaign at a star-studded fundraiser for party faithful in California, aides said Friday.
The fillip for the candidate's campaign coffers came from at a 5,000 dollar-a-head reception in the swanky beach-side Los Angeles area of Santa Monica where guests were entertained by legendary crooner Tony Bennett.
"Don't think of this as a fund-raiser," Jerry told his audience. "Think of it as my Hollywood audition for 'The West Wing'," he said in a joking reference to the hit US television show depicting White House life.
Bennett sang "The Best Is Yet to Come," a theme Kerry sought to echo as he pledged to "reclaim common sense and democracy in this country and put America back to work and put the middle class back into the driver's seat," if he is elected to lead the country.
"We have on our side truth, a sense of direction, a country that needs help, a world that is waiting and a sense of the possibilities in the future," the Massachusetts senator said.
A small group of supporters of President George W. Bush, whom Kerry is vying to replace, shouted "four more years" outside the hotel where the reception took place.
The contender's fundraiser in Los Angeles came as three US opinion polls showed pulling slightly ahead of John Kerry in the race for the November 2 election for the first time this year.
After the reception, Kerry flew to the Californian city of San Francisco as he pursued his campaign swing in the traditionally Democratic state, before he heads to the northwestern state of Washington.
In San Francisco he unveiled plans to create new consumer protections to help working families keep the money they have earned and be able to get ahead.
Copyright 2004 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AFP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Agence France Presse.
