Kerry talks at Clinton fund-raising event in D.C.
Andrew Miga - Boston Herald
March 04, 2005

WASHINGTON - Nobody's calling them the 2008 Democratic dream ticket, but Sen. John F. Kerry delivered the keynote speech at a fund-raiser for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton that raised a whopping $180,000.

"Tonight makes history," Kerry joked to the crowd, according to a friend who attended the event on Wednesday. "It's the first time in four years (former Democratic National Committee chairman) Terry McAuliffe and I haven't been the ones asking you for money."

Kerry, the defeated 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, threw his fund-raising weight behind the dinner at a private Georgetown home for the New York senator and former first lady, spending three hours schmoozing late into the evening.

The Massachusetts Democrat will also appear at a major fund-raising event for Clinton in Boston sometime in early May.

Today Kerry, Clinton and other Senate Democrats will trek together to New York City and three other cities to highlight their opposition to President Bush's Social Security reform plan.

Clinton is basking in a wave of media speculation about her 2008 presidential ambitions. Some Democrats consider her the early favorite. Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) recently branded her the "overwhelming, prohibitive favorite."

Kerry, meanwhile, in recent weeks has sought to bolster his relations with Democrats across the board, including former presidential primary rival and new Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean [related, bio].

The Bay State senator today will attend a birthday event for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy in Boston.