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Still, Garris is confident that the institute is the start of something big. "It gives us, in terms of being in the world of opinion-making, something beyond just the Web site," he says one day while Raimondo is visiting.
"But we're not really an organization, Eric," says Raimondo, more realistically. "We're a conspiracy, pushing ideas out into cyberspace."
"We're not really an organization," agrees Garris. "We're a pre-organization."
One recent afternoon, Raimondo is visiting Garris at Antiwar.com's headquarters. Gilmore has gone to pick up her daughter at karate practice, and Hunter is at work, which leaves Garris and Raimondo sitting outside by the pool, so Raimondo can smoke. They drink coffee from a matching service a maid brings out to them. A small army of groundskeepers meanders over the property, clipping hedges and blowing leaves.
Garris and Raimondo talk to each other constantly on the phone, and often they bicker. Now, reflecting on their activist history, they can't quite agree on their degree of ineffectiveness.
"Looking at, say, LROC – the amount of time we spent at the 1988 Republican Convention! And look what we got out of it! Very little," fumes Garris.
"It's not TRUE, Eric," whines Raimondo. "Because the long term ..."
"There's long term, and there's ...," interrupts Garris.
"But what we handed out at the convention ..."
"I totally understand," says Garris.
"Our platform – we predicted the END of the Soviet Union!" says Raimondo.
"That's not my point."
"The END of communism," adds Raimondo.
"I'm not saying we didn't have ANY effect," says Garris. "I'm just saying we didn't see any immediate effect. With Antiwar.com, we have ..."
Raimondo slams both hands down on the wooden table, jiggling the coffee service. "POWER!"
Garris cracks up and nods.
"POWER!" Raimondo says again. "And we're using it for good.
"Yeeeeeeaaaaaaah."
