They piled their plates high with Kung Pao, beef, veggies and appetizers, and celebrated the recent defeat of Trumpcare.

It's been a tough slog, with many challenges ahead. But Aug. 9 was a night for Democrats from Brookline, Massachusetts to take a breath, dig into some good Sichuan , listen to a pep talk, and enjoy some humor.

With Mike Dukakis and Jimmy Tingle in the room, the latter two were guaranteed.

"Trump said he was going to drain the swamp?" Tingle asked the audience at one point. "His Cabinet is like the Everglades!"

During an impassioned defense of immigrants, he observed that "perhaps instead of dieting and going to the gym, maybe more Americans should pick fruits and vegetables." After all, he said, "you never see too many overweight migrant workers."

Cindy Rowe, Chair of the Brookline Democratic Town Committee , congratulated invitees in her evites. "You saved the ACA! You saved health care!" she wrote, thanking them for making phone calls to people in Maine, West Virginia and several other pivotal states. Many, she wrote, stayed up late that night, filled with fear as they watched the Senate proceedings.

"Due to your hard work over the last few weeks, millions of people across this country will still have health insurance," she said. "Remember that we truly are stronger together.