Lacey, WA -

A five-piece jazz band kicked out the funky jams while an assembly of Washington State Democratic Activists trickled into the St. Martin's College Pavilion basketball arena last night.  It was the annual crab feed, where paper plates carried the food, brown paper bags held the empty shells, and wooden mallets accompanied each table to smash up the peskiest of claws and legs.

Earlier in the day Democrats from all over the state, and even a few Montanans in town to support their own freshman Senator, gathered to work on their skills in local politics. Topics ranged from developing strategies for political organizing and internet communication to how to be a better precinct officer and national delegate. But as the afternoon wrapped up, everyone headed into the gym to eat pounds and pounds of the aforementioned Dungeness crab and listen to keynote speaker Sen. Jon Tester, featured guest Gov. Christine Gregoire, and a slew of state and district-wide Democratic candidates and elected officials including Rep. Norm Dicks, Rep. Brian Baird, Rep. Rick Larsen, Attorney General candidate John Ladenburg, Congressional candidate Darcy Burner, and Lands Commissioner candidate Peter Goldmark.

As the hour approached six, the room was essentially full, and the food line that once stretched across the entire gym whittled down to the final few stragglers and the crab feed volunteers began walking around with trays offering up the last of the leftovers. It was a testament to the boisterous atmosphere that held throughout the night, even as the elected officials spoke.

In spite of the all star lineup, many of the feed-goers were on hand just to check out the event and find out about how they could change what they saw as a broken political system.

Ken from Edmonds, who chose not to give his last name, joked that he was only there for the crab. Pressed further he admitted, "I'm here because I'm a concerned citizen and our country had got to go forward. I'm really cynical. I hope the election won't be stolen again. I just came down to support the Democratic cause."

Similarly, Jo Martens from Mason County ventured over to Lacey with her husband on behalf of the event's organizer, their friend Judy Guenther. It didn't hurt that "the food is great." Last night was the Martens' second crab feed, and while they didn't show up to hear any particular speakers, Jo confessed that she "always enjoy listening to Christine Gregoire."

Ellensburg's Sean Jeffries was a first-time crab feeder who drove across half the state just for the dinner. Yet instead of being fired up about the numerous Congressmen on hand Jeffries had "come just to check it out" and, he mentioned, "our labor organization did a sponsorship here."

Those who attended the afternoon's activist training were more interested in the program, though only slightly. Don Martinson of Edmonds was at his first crab feed, and his first training.

"I want to do more to get our neighborhood involved," he confessed. "It doesn't seem like we have any real involvement in our area at all, in our part of Edmonds."

Martinson has not been active in politics before 2008, though he does vote in every election. As a result he was mostly in town to become a more effective organizer. He wasn't enticed by the crab or the Governor but he was appreciative of the value added. "I want to hear what Jon Tester has to say. I think it was kind of a fun campaign that he had."

But again, it was the desire for change that ruled the day. "I want to see something happen to change the country because we've been dug into a hole." A big enough hole, he figured, that it was time to get involved after more than thirty years of just voting.

Tacoma's Fred Bretherton held a similar position. It was his first crab feed, as well as his first time dabbling in local politics. A life-long voter, Bretherton "wanted to learn more about what our party wanted to do this time to ensure that we go Dem in the state, as far as the governor is concerned, and also nationally because we have to take back the house and the senate with a bigger majority and also the Presidency."

The clincher for him, however, was not just the state of the country but also the inspiration of a man who is trying to lead it. "When I started learning about Obama," Bretherton pointed out, "that really got me charged up and I worked really hard to get people out to the caucus to go with Obama."

He was anxious to hear both Tester and Gregoire, and better yet, he said, "the food was excellent."

A few minutes after 6 PM Norm Dicks introduced Gov. Gregoire by saying that "she is doing an outstanding job," and alerting voters about her opponent, Dino Rossi. "This Rossi is nothing but trouble," Dicks warned, "and we've got to defeat him this time so he won't be around in the future."

Gregoire then took the stage, proudly spoke of her daughter's coming wedding, and touched on the main topics of her agenda for the fall and beyond. This included taking action against global climate change on a local level, ensuring children's health care, spurring economic development, reducing homelessness and electing a Democratic President.

State Party chair Dwight Pelz introduced the day's featured speaker, Montana Senator Jon Tester, with a few anecdotes pertaining to his plain, country image, like working the same farm land as his grandparents and someone who will still drink a Miller Lite (or two!) mixed in with a little bit of tomato juice.

Tester obliged the image, mostly telling stories of his successful 2006 campaign and his preference of the West relative to muggy, expensive Washington, DC. The Montanan also testified to the problems Democrats needed to solve in the capital. In Iraq, he said, "violence is down, but the government doesn't work and will not work until we get ourselves out of their country. Those guys hate us," he continued to say, speaking of the Iraqis, "point blank, and we can no longer afford four billion dollars a week" being spent on the war.

"It is goint to take knocking on doors, making phone call and even writing checks," he told the gym full of party activists, and "urging family members and co workers to vote" in order to get the Democratic majority needed to adhere to the values of the party, which he asserted were helping families, small businesses and small agricultural operations.

The crowd was lively throughout the program, and a heavy din of chatter could be heard all night long even as the keynote officials gave their remarks. Activists sat around their tables, peeling the last shreds of Dungeness from the shells and chattering away about local races, Presidential candidates, and the work ahead of them. Perhaps one can expect nothing less from a room full of people ready and willing to change the world.