The flickering lanterns hanging from 1 West 72nd Street teasingly beckon. But the "pre-reception" fundraiser at the Dakota manse of Matt Mallow and Ellen Chesler -- two of the donors-cum-"longtime friends" who enjoyed overnight stays at the Clinton White House -- was closed to all but those 30 members of the WLC willing to pony up $5,000.

While this reporter huddles outside waiting for the Dean staffer who, he was erroneously promised, would escort him into the affair, DNC chairman Terry McAuliffe swaggers past the Dakota sentry and up to the DNC staffers. The convivial, congenital back-slapper is staggered at the news he's just heard. The first quarter of fund-raising for the declared presidential candidates has ended as of March 31. Reports aren't due at the Federal Election Commission until April 15, but now's the time for campaigns to whip it out and disclose how much money they've raised since the first of the year.

"Edwards raised seven-point-four million," McAuliffe says. He's amazed, he says, not only that Edwards has apparently beaten sort-of frontrunner Kerry in fundraising, "but that they kept it so quiet!" Dean's campaign says that he'll have raised about $1.5 million. None of the others have come to the table.

Shifting gears, McAuliffe calls Dean "great for our party," and labels him exciting, claiming he is bringing new voters into the Democrats tent. He then bids adieu and heads inside.

With late word that no media riffraff will be permitted a gaze into the Chesler-Mallow chateau, I cross the street to Sambuca. It wasn't originally on the schedule, McAuliffe says, but the response to word of Dean's appearance has been so overwhelming they needed to find space to accommodate 90 people for the larger event. The CBS crew sets up their lights. Servers pour glasses of Pinot Grigiot and Cabernet. Guests spill in.

"I went to a preview last night," an older woman says to another, younger attendee. "'Phonebooth.' Colin Farrell was there. He brought his whole mishpacha from Dublin -- his cousins, his aunts ..."

The conversation soon turns to a different sort of violent image. "Are you pro-war?" the older woman asks.

"I'm not against the war," says the younger. "I'm in favor of undermining Saddam Hussein."

"No one disagrees with that," snaps the older woman. "But look, do you believe in the Constitution?"

It goes on from there. The room fills. McAuliffe is besieged by a woman concerned that Bush's religiosity is guiding him into a battle of civilizations. The word "apocalypse" can be overheard as McAuliffe gazes at her politely.

Dean comes in. He makes small talk. Some about the war. Some of it not. "So you're a broker?" he's heard saying. The hors d'oeuvre trays come out, and the smell of Swedish meatballs wafts through the room.

Susan Turnbull, national chair of the WLF, tells reporters that Dean didn't talk much about the war across the street at the Chesler/Mallow abode. He was asked about affirmative action, abortion and judges, she recalls. Uncommitted to any candidate, Turnball says that Dean's essentially antiwar stance "is going to play differently in different communities. Obviously in New York you see a lot of people who are supportive of his message."

She emphasizes that everyone supports our troops.

Judith Hope appears. She endorsed Dean today, despite being under "a lot of pressure" to go with other candidates. "I just could not do it, because I feel so strongly that Howard's the real thing. And that comes so rarely in American politics."

That characterization would probably be disputed by at least one of Dean's rivals. At a California Democratic convention on March 15, Dean accused Kerry and Edwards of supporting the war and pretending before Democratic crowds that they hadn't. Hours before, however, Edwards had been booed for asserting "that Saddam Hussein is a serious threat, and I believe he must be disarmed including the use of military force if necessary." On the floor of the Senate a few days later, a Boston Globe reporter overheard Edwards complaining to Kerry that Dean "got up there and lied." In a private letter, Dean apologized to Edwards, specifying that Edwards had in fact been honest before the California convention, but in an interview with the Des Moines Register, continued the criticism generally, saying that "it seems to me he has changed his position."

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