Democrats prepare for their county convention

MLHS Commons the site for Saturday's event

The countdown for Saturday morning's Grant County Democratic Convention has begun, and judging by its members, the outlook could not be sunnier for the local Party of Jefferson.

"Things are in good shape," said the party's county chairman Jim Curdy. "The Democratic Party is a party where everybody has a voice."

Party member Danna Del Porto said the involvement is there to make this year's county convention at 9 a.m. at Moses Lake High School a truly successful one.

"There is the experienced personnel, the newcomers and many people waiting to stand forth for the Democratic Party and its principles," she said, adding that with the groundswell of people, including more than 180 county delegates, "I don't see how we can lose."

Anabel Romero-Juarez added that among the new supporters, there has to be more young people involved. "The youth need to stand up for something," she said. "We are too complacent."

Curdy said that during the convention there will be certain topics that will likely take center stage, such as returning Hanford lands to the county, and completing the development of the Columbia Basin Reclamation Project. He noted the historical importance of the latter project, saying that the realization of the first half of the reclamation project "had helped pull the country out of the Great Depression."

Curdy said that national issues will be touched upon at the county convention, as well, such as the presidential candidacy of U.S. Sen. John Kerry. In the county, this candidacy has gathered the support of even those who were delegates of other candidates, such as former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean.

"I was a Dean delegate," said Ellen Webb, who credited Dean with "articulating the anger" people felt and use it as a source of energy to make changes.

"He said that it was okay to be a liberal and it was okay to be a union person again," Webb noted. "For a while those had been bad words and that had not worked for the benefit of our government."

The convention, Curdy said, will help bring people together and get them involved in seeking solution to what the party sees as the nation's most serious problems, such as unemployment. "We have some answers, we don't have all the answers," Curdy said, "But we do know that if enough of us think about it, we can come up with a solution for the people we have."

Other issues that will be discussed and expected to be part of the county's party platform are the development of agriculture, food safety, and dealing with gang activity and graffiti problems.

Webb said she noticed a marked difference between this year's Democratic Party and the party during the year former Vice President Al Gore ran for office. "We are more cohesive," she said. "There is a lot of frustration, and people are meeting and coming out to caucuses to articulate it, as opposed to being upset at home."

Mabel Thompson agreed, saying that for the long time, getting two people to a Democrats' meeting was considered a good turnout. "There has been an unusual interest we have got to build on," she said.

For Thompson, the reason for this interest has been what she deemed a "poor performance" by President George W. Bush.

Having Bush as president, she said, ought to bring people's interest out. "He is doing a good job for the people he works for," Thompson said. "But not for the rest of us."