By Gregory Korte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Allan Berliant and his wife, Jennie Rosenthal Berliant (right) meet Ann Katz of Indian Hill Thursday during the Berliants' fund-raiser for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry in East Walnut Hills. The Enquirer/ERNEST COLEMAN

Peter Frampton performed at the Berliants' fund-raiser.

The story of how Peter Frampton ended up playing a private concert on Allan and Jennie Berliant's front lawn Thursday night starts at their breakfast table last winter, over newspaper stories about the presidential election.

"I looked at Jennie and said, 'This year, I can't just put up a yard sign and feel comfortable that we're doing everything we can,'" Allan said. President Bush "is just so arrogant, just so self-righteous, and just so wrong, that I had to do something."

And so, a few months later, the Berliants have entered the rarified circles of top Democratic fund-raisers in Hamilton County. A month ago, they shared billing with trial lawyers Stan Chesley and Dick Lawrence as co-hosts of a $1 million downtown luncheon featuring the Democratic candidate, John F. Kerry.

And Thursday on Wold Avenue in East Walnut Hills, they invited 150 friends - and friends of friends of friends - willing to pay $500 each to hear Frampton play and support the Democratic ticket.

They hoped to raise $100,000.

They illustrate the growing visibility of Democratic fund-raising efforts in Cincinnati, a town much better known as one of the most productive Republican money machines in the country. But it's also an example of how people on both sides are getting involved in the campaign in ways they never would have considered in 2000 or before.

With Republicans and Democrats alike framing the contest as the most important one in a generation, people with little or no political experience are coming out earlier and in bigger numbers to raise money and provide grass-roots support, both campaigns said.

Take the Berliants, two self-described "political novices."

Although not household names, they're no strangers in society circles. He owns a food distributing company; she is the daughter of arts patrons Richard and Lois Rosenthal, whose names adorn the Contemporary Arts Center.

But until this year, they were never particularly involved in politics. Nor did they know Frampton. With few people willing to shell out $500 for cocktails and fried shrimp, Allan went searching for a big name and wrote a blind letter to Indian Hill resident Frampton. He enthusiastically called back the next day.

Frampton, an Englishman who was recently naturalized as an American citizen and will vote for the first time in November, made no secret of his political leanings. On "Wind of Change," he changed the lyrics: "Take him away/He's faking his way through/That's what he do/Faking it through."

A running joke at any Cincinnati gathering of Democrats is just how outnumbered they are. Lawrence tells of meeting people he doesn't know and having them say, "I know who you are - you're the Democrat in Anderson Township."

Jennie Berliant, who now works with the Kerry campaign's local field organizer to coordinate local events, says part of her job is just to boost the morale of local Democrats. This week, her crew will provide a presence at the Reds-Cardinals series at Great American Ball Park and at church and neighborhood festivals in Mount Healthy, Oakley and Price Hill.

"When you see huge shows of support - when you see 100 Kerry supporters marching in the Mount Washington parade - you feel like, 'Hey, there are people who feel like I do, and I'm part of a bigger group,'" she said. "It gets people talking. There is safety in numbers."

That unprecedented energy in this campaign is by no means exclusively Democratic.

Just as Frampton was asking Kerry supporters to "Show Me the Way" in East Walnut Hills, the GOP faithful turned out to hear First Lady Laura Bush on a conference call at 50 smaller events in Hamilton County. As with a round of similar events in April, Ohio had more "Parties for the President" Thursday night - about 750 - than any other state.

"We're running a presidential campaign on a neighborhood level. People aren't going to watch commercials and go vote and be done with it," said Greg Hartmann, the Hamilton County clerk of courts and the county chairman of Bush's campaign. "People are getting involved in grass-roots activities for the first time in their lives. Part of that is because it's Ohio. People know it's so important this year."

To be sure, Democratic fund-raisers are little match for the GOP's Cincinnati fund-raising powerhouse. At least 14 Cincinnati residents have reached the "Pioneer" or "Ranger" level in the Bush fund-raising apparatus, signifying fund-raising of $100,000 and $200,000, respectively.

The Kerry campaign won't release its list, and Kerry's Ohio finance chairman, Jon Rotenberg - who attended Thursday's fund-raiser - would not comment. But the Berliants said they've reached both the $100,000 "Patriot" and $250,000 "Trustee" milestones for the Kerry campaign.

Still, as of July 5, Bush has raised four times more money than Kerry in the Cincinnati metropolitan area, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Allan Berliant knows he's not going to close that gap overnight.

"Particularly in Southwest Ohio - with (top Bush fund-raisers) Bill DeWitt and Mercer Reynolds - it's not only a local Republican stronghold. It's a national political stronghold," he said. "But we've found a voice, and that's a start."

The old guard of Cincinnati Democrats say they've seen a lot of energy in this campaign.

"Having been a grass-roots organizer in those previous campaigns, I can tell you that the turnout we're getting is pretty amazing," said Donald J. Mooney, a co-host of the Frampton event who worked on the '80s Mondale and Dukakis campaigns. "What you're seeing is a level of enthusiasm stronger than that of Clinton in '92 when he won Ohio.

"On our side, it's a combination of feeling that the election was stolen in 2000 and the way the country has gone in very strange directions since then. It's made people want to stand up and be counted."

Outside of Frampton, other co-hosts aren't household names:

• Lawyer and developer Jack A. Donenfeld of Hyde Park and his wife, Beryl, a personal trainer.

• Dr. David Eisenstein of Loveland and his wife, Lisa Preschel-Eisenstein, a medical writer.

• Marsha Lindner, an Indian Hill housewife. (And yes, she's related by marriage to Reds owner Carl Lindner, a top Republican fund-raiser.)

• Jeffrey Stegman, vice president of the Osborne Coinage Co., and his wife, Lisa, of Walnut Hills.

• Nancy Weintrub, a jeweler, and husband, Andy Scheurer, a marketing consultant, of Clifton.

• Lawyer Bruce Whitman of Clifton and his wife, Ginny.

• Nora Zorich, the director of new drug development at Procter & Gamble, and husband, Tom Filardo, of Evendale.

Donenfeld, who went to law school with Kerry, said he's never given as much to a candidate - and others are giving till it hurts.

"There are people who spent $1,000 to come as a couple, and they can't afford it," Donenfeld said. "It's not a wealthy crowd."

E-mail gkorte@enquirer.com