A conversational hum filled the hotel lobby as men and women in business suits congregated in small groups.
"Can I get two minutes when you're done here?" one businessman said to another. Hearty greetings were exchanged while college students and interns searched for a chance to network.
In a corner, a table holding platters of fruit and cheese stood near a cash bar where even beer was poured into wine glasses.
Nearby, a long line waited to pick up their pre-printed nametags. An aideasked for the Virginia attorney general's nametag, only to find that his nametag had not been printed.
As Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner slowly worked his way through the crowd, a server holding a xylophone wandered in the throng, striking random notes to encourage the group to move into the dining room.
Clearly, these people could only have gathered for one reason -- to celebrate Politics Prof. Larry J. Sabato's 50th birthday.
Virginia politicians, political analysts, journalists and University students and alumni gathered Monday night in the Richmond Marriot to wish Sabato a happy birthday.
Rather than traditional cake and candles, however, a few prominent Virginia politicians humorously chose to light something else on fire -- Sabato's reputation.
Warner said he accepted the invitation to speak for the opportunity to give Sabato some of his own medicine.
"Larry's been roasting all of us for years," Warner said. "Turnabout is fair play."
The celebration, called the "Sabato Five-O," took the form of a roast a la Comedy Central. The event also served as a fundraiser for The University of Virginia Center for Politics, of which Sabato serves as director.
The Center for Politics, located on Old Ivy Road, uses various research and outreach programs to promote civic education and participation around Virginia.
After the crowd made its way into the dining room, former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder introduced himself as emcee of the night's festivities, and proceeded to introduce a video, much like those shown at bachelor parties.
The video started out with photos of Sabato's youth, then moved to doctored photographs including Sabato as Elvis and an onlooker in the fateful photograph of former President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. The video then featured birthday wishes from some of the media's most prominent political talk shows, such as Crossfire, The Capital Gang and The Beltway Boys.
The Beltway Boys, Mort Kondracke and Fred Barnes, named Sabato as their favorite guest, even if "he doesn't always know what he's talking about. His greatest strength is that he's always there."
University alumna and NBC Today Show anchor Katie Couric also taped a personal message, as well as fellow alumnus and FOX news anchor Brit Hume, who encouraged Sabato to "prevail in your long struggle against shyness."
The program then gave six of Virginia's most powerful politicians the opportunity to poke fun at a man who, as he himself claimed, has predicted defeat for every one of them.
Virginia Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine called the head table "the greatest group of Virginia politicians since Thomas Jefferson ate by himself."
Much was said about Sabato's willingness to comply with the news media. AOL Editorial cartoonist Bob Gorrell showed the crowd a pie chart, claiming to cater to Sabato's love of precise polling data.
According to the chart, 60 percent of the audience were thrilled to be there, 30 percent were moderately pleased, and 10 percent were incredibly inconvenienced. He also called Sabato "the Pez dispenser of sound bytes."
Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore spoke about Sabato's ability to state the obvious and make it sound profound, then joked about Sabato's abundance of media exposure.
"He spends so much time in front of the camera lights," Kilgore said, "that when he opens his fridge at night he speaks for three minutes."
Kilgore also mentioned Sabato's record for predicting the outcomes of elections.
"In ancient times, prophets who got it wrong were taken out and stoned," he laughed.
Several of the roasters mentioned a fear that if they turned down the invitation to speak, they later would receive some roasting of their own in Sabato's political analysis.
U.S. Senator George Allen, R-Va., cited a need to keep Sabato off their backs.
"There are places we'd rather be," Allen said. "But we didn't want to cross the good professor."
U.S. Senator John Warner, R-Va., compared the invitation to Marlon Brando's "offer you can't refuse."
Several speakers also joked about the dinner's fundraising function, calling it "extortion."
Warner claimed it was only the beginning of a series of fundraisers to support various state agencies, including ABC stores and the Virginia Museum.
Allen mentioned budgets cuts facing the University as well, and, indicating Warner, said, "If he cuts your budget next year, Larry, put it in your file as something mean a Democrat did to you."
Allen, who attended the University as an undergraduate with Sabato, remembered Sabato's beginnings as a student who wanted to fight the power of special interest groups.
"Then I see this gathering," Allen said. "You make Hillary Clinton look like a pike."
Other commentary centered on Sabato's role as a professor.
Warner, citing Sabato's frequent role as a debate moderator, posed a question of his own to the man of the hour: "Larry, do you require students to buy your textbooks to line your own pockets, or because nobody else will?"
The night did include some serious moments, with Warner promising the state would come through the budget crisis and that the actions of the sniper would not keep the state from "moving forward."
The dinner raised over $166,000 for the Center for Politics, which Sabato claimed was a third of the money needed to compensate for budget cuts.
Sabato, always the academic, took advantage of the night as an educational opportunity. Two of his classes dined at sponsored tables, and each of his students met the roasting politicians and took pictures with them.
Fourth-year College student Audrey Wagner, who is in Sabato's Virginia Government and Politics class, said she valued the opportunity to see the figures discussed in class in person.
"Mr. Sabato's class is a class where you learn the kind of things you can't learn from textbooks," Wagner said. "It's great to understand some of the inside jokes the politicians made this evening just because I'm in his class."
Sabato, who has been roasted before, said he enjoyed the event enormously.
"I would walk over hot coals while barefoot to raise money for my beloved University," he said.
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