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I read your June 16 article about the Virginia Democratic Convention held on June 14. The article focused on Mark Warner’s Senate candidacy and, secondarily, on differences between Obama Democrats and Clinton Democrats.
As someone who attended, I must say that there was much more to the Democratic Convention than your piece reported. Perhaps space prevented you from printing the entire AP article.
I don’t know where the article’s author sat or whom he talked with, but there was a great deal of enthusiasm shown by attendees at many different times, not just when Mark Warner spoke. Warner, Tim Kaine, and Jim Webb each brought the crowd to its feet numerous times, and there was even a standing ovation following a taped message from Barack Obama. In addition, all of the state-wide Congressional candidates—including our 10th District contestant Judy Feder —offered well-received remarks.
The enthusiasm in the Hampton Convention Center was palpable. This is truly a great time to be a Democrat.
A recurring theme of the speakers was this: Republicans in power have made messes which Democrats have to clean up. Prime examples:
- James Gilmore and the Republican legislature put Virginia into a dire financial state (huge deficits, near loss of the AAA Bond Rating, crippled initiatives), which Mark Warner successfully reversed.
- The first President Bush left a deficit so large and so intractable that people started believing that it had become impossible to balance the federal budget. Bill Clinton balanced the budget and left a significant surplus.
- The current President Bush squandered Clinton’s surplus within his first year (prior to Sept 11) and has continued to grow the deficit. President Obama will have to deal not only with a huge federal deficit but also with the housing crisis, the sharply devalued dollar, the declining confidence in the economy, and the oil crisis.
- Indeed, the next President will inherit more messes from Bush II than space allows me to itemize. Scores of books have already been written about the mess called “Iraq”.
So, besides being called the “Party of Unity” and “The Party of Diversity,” Democrats can also be called the “Fixers”—though not in the sense of influence and drug peddling. The last eight years or so have given us countless instances of those kinds of “fixins”: cronyism and corruption, pipedreams and paranoia.
As for the local scene, the Frederick County Board of Supervisors, all Republicans, has set in motion “development” with scant foresight and increasing indifference to the community. Signs that messes could be in the county’s future include the water situation (there is not enough for the county without finding a way to drain the Shenandoah River), traffic congestion (worse by the month and approaching gridlock in several places), and cost of living (the tax rate is kept artificially low while assessments, “fees,” and other forms of taxation rise quickly). And then there are the zoning issues.
A current national poll reports that 80% of Americans feel that our country is going in the wrong direction. Whether you are interested in local, state, or national issues, area Democrats have ideas, plans, and energy. Check out our website (frederickvademocrats.com), call me, or come out to our monthly meetings. We gather at 7:15pm on the third Thursday of each month at the new Public Safety Building, located on Coverstone Drive past the Corps of Engineers complex..
The next meeting is July 17. Come join us. It’s a great time to be a Democrat.
Warren E. DeArment
Chair - Frederick County Democratic Committee
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