'It was better to do something'; Drawn to Obama, Iran native holds fund- raiser

BERKELEY, Calif. -- Amir Massih and I are sitting on his backporch drinking black tea and talking about Iranians in California,the failure of the Bush administration and the small fund-raiserMassih held the night before for Barack Obama. His wife, Yasi, isdoing the laundry. His children, Kasra, 4, and Darya, 1, are downfor their afternoon nap. We have an hour to talk politics.

Massih's fund-raiser, in this town where politics still wearslong hair and Birkenstocks, involved about 50 people, mostly friendswho raised $6,000 for Obama. No, Obama wasn't there. He attends thebigger, glitzier, million-dollar- raising dinners, but Massih andhis friends partied and celebrated …