June 13, 2005
Dean backers find a grass-roots home in county
By Larry Carson, Sun Staff
June 12, 2005
ALL THOSE eager volunteers in former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's presidential campaign didn't disappear after his effort flamed out last year -- they've morphed into a grass-roots group called Democracy for America, which has a local chapter.
"I got really excited by the idea that people who can write a $25 check instead of a $2,000 check are important," said Dawn Popp, 36, of Elkridge, a lawyer taking time from a career to raise her children.
She volunteered for Dean, but after the presidential campaign, she decided to use that enthusiasm and feeling that "we really need to get to work here" to pursue progressive, if not always Democratic Party, causes.
"We're independents, Greens -- individuals can make a difference," she said.
Democracy for Howard County, the local chapter of Democracy for America, holds monthly 7 p.m. "meet-ups" at the Elkridge library on the second Monday of each month. The next meeting is tomorrow.
This month's topic is the national campaign focused on Wal-Mart, America's biggest retailer, via bills including the one approved by the General Assembly that Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. vetoed. The bill would require all employers with more than 10,000 workers to spend at least 8 percent of their payrolls on health care -- affecting only Wal-Mart, as a practical matter.
David Osmundson, 64, of Sykesville, a retired National Security Agency employee, is helping to run the group.
Osmundson is active in the local Democratic Party, too, but he said Democracy for Howard County is technically nonpartisan, and he is not shy about criticizing either Democrats or Republicans -- or newspapers -- for obscuring real issues with too many political horse race stories.
Members want to spend their time trying to change things, not just write a check to some bloated campaign fund, he said.
Dean, he said, "gave you the feeling you were important. To me, the Democratic National Committee seemed like all they wanted was your money. We stress activism rather than money. You give your time and contribute to the candidates you're enthused about."
In Maryland, Osmundson said big college tuition increases and Ehrlich's veto of the so-called "Wal-Mart bill" are bad moves.
Although the group is liberal on many issues, he said, it is also "conservative on fiscally responsible government."
That's why he feels, he said, that former Gov. Parris N. Glendening, a Democrat, "did leave things in a mess. Maybe he wasn't the most fiscally responsible."
At the same time, "Republicans really go in lock step -- that elephant thing," he said, recalling that circus pachyderms walk single file, trunk holding the tail on the animal in front.
"Democrats have always argued with each other. I think it's a strength, because out of conflict you get better," he said. "There used to be liberal Republicans, but they seem to be dying out."
McCrone fund-raiser
While contenders for governor, U.S. Senate and Howard County executive get most of the attention locally, State's Attorney Tim McCrone, a Democrat, is quietly building his campaign war chest. He held a $75-a-ticket fund-raiser for about 125 people Tuesday night at a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall in Ellicott City.
McCrone, 52, barely lost the 1998 election -- by a mere 94 votes -- to former State's Attorney Marna McLendon, a Republican. In 2002, McCrone won, beating Republican Robert Ryan Tousey with 56 percent of the vote.
Running for state's attorney doesn't take the money that higher profile, policy-making offices require, McCrone said.
Besides, "things have been going so well that I think there's a common perception that the office is functioning at a very high level and with a great deal of success. We won every single big case. We've been pretty aggressive with drug distribution, taken a hard line on DWI, and the homicide rate is nearly nonexistent. That doesn't make much to criticize," he said.
As if to emphasize McCrone's point, Republican County Councilman Christopher J. Merdon, who is running for county executive, stopped by, though Merdon said he is not endorsing anyone.
McCrone said he tries to hold one event a year "just so we have a little bit of a nest egg to run the campaign. We're going to have to run a campaign, even if we have no opposition," he said.
Posted by Jim at 09:05 AM | Comments (0)
January 18, 2005
Announcing a special DFH event!
At 7pm on Monday, January 24, Democracy for Howard County will host a screening of the video "How Democrats and Progressives Can Win: Solutions from George Lakoff." We will use this video from the renowned professor of linguistics and cognitive science as a springboard for a discussion on how Progressives can use language to better "frame" the issues. Conservatives have gotten very good at using language to their advantage, now we need to do the same! This video screening/discussion will take place at the East Columbia Library, 6600 Cradlerock Way, Columbia, MD 21045. All are welcome!
RSVPs are not required, but they will be helpful in ensuring that we have enough chairs and REFRESHMENTS! You can RSVP at http://dfa.meetup.com/138.
Posted by Dawn at 10:44 AM | Comments (0)
November 08, 2004
Howard Dean considering bid to chair Democratic Party
by Christopher Graff, Associated Press Writer
Former presidential candidate Howard Dean is considering a bid to become chairman of the national Democratic Party.
"He told me he was thinking about it," Steve Grossman, himself a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said Monday. Grossman was a Dean backer during the former Vermont governor's failed presidential bid.
Dean, who was in Albany, N.Y., Monday night to give a speech, said he hasn't decided about the top party job, noting he'd received thousands of e-mails urging him to try for it. He said he's still uncertain about his future.
"It's a lot easier to run for president when you don't know what you're getting into," he said. "I will stay involved, believe me."
During his Albany speech, Dean said President Bush's re-election was not a mandate to ignore the views of those who voted against him.
"We're not retreating. We're not giving up," Dean told an audience of nearly 1,000. "We're not going to stop fighting because we're going to stand up for ordinary Americans even though the President doesn't."
Earlier Monday, his spokeswoman, Laura Gross, said "it was far too early to be speculating" on Dean's becoming party chairman. "The election was less than a week ago."
The roughly 240 members of the DNC will elect a new chair early next year. Several names are already being mentioned, including former Clinton aide Harold Ickes; Donna Brazile, who ran Al Gore's presidential campaign, and Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack.
Grossman said it is not too soon for Democrats to focus on their future leadership.
"I strongly urged (Dean) to seek the position," he said. "Howard is a voice of political empowerment and that to me is important, for the Democrats to get their sea legs back as quickly as possible, to get beyond the disappointment of the last week and to believe there is a bright future ahead for the Democratic Party."
Dean has been outspoken since the beginning of his presidential bid in saying that the Democratic Party must establish a separate and unique identity from Republicans.
Grossman said that if Dean were to run for DNC chair, he would need to pledge that he would serve the full four-year term, thus ruling out a presidential bid in 2008.
The next chairman will replace Terry McAuliffe, whose term is ending.
Posted by Jim at 11:49 PM | Comments (0)