All eyes on Boston at local gathering.

Byline: Lewis Taylor The Register-Guard

The standing-room-only crowd of John Kerry supporters cheered the speakers, applauded the one-liners and spoke about the need to take back the White House in 2004.

"The convention is showing all of the little people that they're not alone," Virginia Klassen of Eugene said. "(Sometimes) you feel like a voice crying in the wilderness, but now you see that there's powerful people who are enunciating exactly what I think. ... It's energizing, it's uplifting, it gives people something to hope for."

While delegates gathered in Boston for the second night of the Democratic National Convention, 3,000 miles away in Eugene, Klassen and a few dozen other Democratic supporters came together in a crowded 1,400-square-foot house to watch the event on television.

"I'm flying by the seat of my pants," said Tom Dodd, the host of the party.

"I felt that it was important to support the Democratic nominee and it was a good way to get friends together."

Dodd, a pastor at United Lutheran Church, personally invited people to his convention watching party and sent an e-mail invitation out through the John Kerry Web site. The hope, he said, was to raise money for the campaign, attract new volunteers and celebrate the nomination.

Kerry representatives were on hand with info sheets and pledge forms while Eugene mayoral nominee Kitty Piercy showed up and grabbed a seat in the only place available: on the floor.

"I am always a strong supporter of grass-roots activism and people seeing the power that they have to make a difference to the community or at the national level," Piercy said "I think that's really what makes our country function."

Tuesday's gathering was one of many such get-togethers scheduled for Oregon and the rest of the country during this convention week. Nationally, most of the house parties are planned for Thursday, when Kerry will accept his party's nomination.

"Tom really wanted to do this," said Dodd's wife, Gay. "It's very important to both of us that we get a new president."

While Dems at the Dodd house crowded around a 19-inch TV set to watch Theresa Heinz Kerry speak, lemon bars and watermelon wedges went uneaten in the dining room. Blue Kerry balloons clung to the chandelier and red and blue paper plates and cups helped set the mood. In the race for refreshments, lemonade was the clear winner over iced tea.

Most attendees at the Dodd house on Tuesday agreed that such a gathering would not have happened four years ago. Most credited former candidate Howard Dean, and his grass-roots political machine, for inspiring such gatherings.

"Howard Dean may have lost (as) a candidate, but I think he empowered people with the idea that citizens can get together and join forces with each other and build grass-roots power in the community," Piercy said.

Cliff Clark of Eugene had another theory.

"It's all because of Bush," Clark said. "Bush and his corporate shenanigans."

CAPTION(S):

A crowd gathers at Tom Dodd's house Tuesday night to watch the Democratic National Convention telecast.