In This Issue

• Bulletin Board
• Chair's Corner: The Jeff-Jack Dinner

Bulletin Board

Berkley Democratic Club Meetings
May 16, 2002 (3rd Thursday)
Speaker: David Fink, candidate for the 9th Congressional District. Come and hear about his campaign to unseat Joe Knollenberg.

All club meetings will be held at Anderson Middle School in the Media Center beginning at 8:00pm.

Mark Your Calendar
August 6, 2002 - Primary Election
Our candidate for Governor and precinct delegates will be chosen.

August 24-25, 2002 - Democratic State Convention
It will be held in Lansing at the Lansing Center. State party members, precinct delegates, and elected officials are voting delegates. Your presence is needed to establish a state platform and to nominate candidates for Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Supreme Court Judges and Michigan, MSU, and WSU Governing Boards.

- Ralph Conklin

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Chair's Corner

The Jeff-Jack Dinner

The annual Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner was held at Cobo Conference Center on May 4th. Among the 2000 attendees were Berkley Democratic Club members: George and Marilyn Stephan, Ralph Conklin, and Phil O'Dwyer. An unusually tasty chicken dinner and a spirit of optimism for the fall elections lent excitement to the occasion.

The state party chair, Mark Brewer, intoned the "things to do in 2002": elect a Democratic Governor, Attorney General and Secretary of State; retake the state House and Senate; return justice to the Michigan Supreme Court; and re-elect Carl Levin and the rest of our Democratic delegation.

The highlight of the event was the keynote address by Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina. Sen. Edwards is a bright prospect in our party. He is articulate, charming, and telegenic - qualities that are essential in a candidate for national office. It is likely that his role in national politics will quickly expand in the next few years. This scribe believes that he may have a place on a national ticket in the not to distant future.

He eloquently outlined key Democratic principles. He learned a lot from his father worked in a cotton mill for 36 years. "When I became a lawyer," he said, "I defended the people who worked with my dad... they worked hard and played by the rules and needed to be defended against others who don't play by the rules."

On healthcare, he pointed to the cost of medication and explained how pharmaceutical companies use their patent rights to prevent others from producing generic drugs for more than 20 years. On education, he insisted that we must challenge the President when he says, "We will leave no child behind" because the Presidents own education budget "shows that this is a lie." Beyond the K-12 cuts, significant reductions in student loans have been made by the Bush budget.

Regarding the issue of foreign policy, he indicated that he has just returned from Afghanistan. "Our soldiers deserve our gratitude and respect", he said, "but our policy there may cause us to win the war but give back the victory." Apparently much of the country has been given back to local warlords and heroin production has resumed.

Edwards brings wisdom, insight, and excitement to our party. His personal comments about Carl Levin as "the conscience of the Senate" made every Michigan Democrat proud. A brief, if clumsy, "photo op" occurred when the three gubernatorial candidates posed together, held hands, but spoke not a word. An extraordinary achievement for three politicians!

Democrats left the event rededicated to the principles that have shaped our party. Opponents may have money but we have passion and vision. The thing to do in 2002 is work hard and win.

- Phil O'Dwyer, Chair

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