The Berkley Democratic Club Welcomes You







A Democratic Presence
The Newsletter of the Berkley Democratic Club
May 6, 2003

In This Issue

Bulletin Board

Berkley Democratic Club Meeting
May 22, 2003

This is the last meeting of Spring Season. Our Next meeting will be in September. Complete details of our meeting schedule be in our September issue of A Democratic Presence.

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

- Ralph Conklin Back to the Contents

Chair's Corner

The Iraq Factor in the Next Election

Our party must be careful in the next election as it presents its case to the public. Certain striking facts emerge from the invasion of Iraq that should be considered. The most critical is that the American people supported the war in enormous numbers. That is a fact!

Another fact is that women made the difference. 60% of so-called "soccer moms" supported the war. Women fear another 9/11 and see national security as a domestic issue. There is a 21-point "fear gap" between men and women. By a 2 to 1 margin, women trust Republicans to better handle homeland security. Overall, women tend to support Democratic values and candidates, but this issue may challenge their loyalty.

The one question that should join the traditional "are you better off than you were four years ago?" is "are you safer now than you were four years ago?" A likely lesson of the military success is that military strength is not enough. Indeed, Iraq could in fact be a more dangerous place than it was before the invasion.

Winning the peace may be much more difficult than wining the war. If the 60% Shiite population get a democratic vote they will establish an Iran-like theocracy. Islamic fundamentalists will let the Mullahs dictate policy or a civil war will erupt. To prevent either result our troops will be there for a long time at a cost of 20 billion dollars per year.

Another election question should focus on the impact of Bush rhetoric on our image worldwide. The White House hawks continue to advance the "mess with us and you'll be sorry" thinking but insulting traditional allies, destabilizing the UN and NATO is a recipe for disaster. As the poet reminded us, "the abuse of greatness is when it disjoins remorse from power."

Essentially, White House arrogant rhetoric will only succeed in making us a target for untold numbers of fanatical people in the Arab world and render us less safe than before. A recent poll of Europeans revealed that 78% viewed us as the number one threat in the world.

This perception can produce a commercial backlash. Mecca Cola is only one drinkable manifestation of that hostility. Isn't it interesting that the man who claimed in the election that he would "restore respect to the White House" succeeded in tarnishing it more than his predecessor could on his best night!

Our national candidates must balance pragmatics with principle in order to win. We all must recognize that the gender gap may have narrowed especially on the war issue. We can get them back on issues like healthcare, education, and the economy. It's still "the economy stupid."

- Phil O'Dwyer, Chair Back to the Contents

Election Reform

Four brief points:

  1. The 2000 election was stolen from the Democrats! The film "Unprecedented" documents the illegal expunging of 54,000 names of black (essentially Democrat) votes from the Florida rolls. This isn't news to anyone. The film, however, includes interviews of representatives of the company that was hired to expunge the names of voters. Their explanations of the instructions they received led them to admit that they knew their instructions would produce massive error - and the result was 91,000 names. Jeb Bush was sued. He was supposed to have returned the name of rolls. He did not do so, and he won re-election in 2002. What was the margin?

  2. Corporate-programmed, compute controlled, modem-capable voting machines that record and tabulate ballots were used in Senator Chuck Hagel's state of Nebraska. The software for the program is not open to public scrutiny. Government-employee election workers were prohibited from looking at the ballots, even in a recount. The only machines permitted to count votes in Nebraska are those made and programmed by the corporation formerly run by Hagel. When his opponent asked for a recount, he was denied on the basis of new election reform policies.

  3. Election "reform" laws that prohibit paper ballots and put an end to a paper trail; that eliminate exit polls, which although a nuisance, do yield an unofficial record of votes, and efforts to PRIVATIZE elections must be stopped. We must not turn over elections to the corporate sector.

  4. Election reform was called for to ameliorate the wrongs of the 2000 election, not to replicate them in elections to come!

- Marilyn Stephan Back to the Contents

Club Officers for 2003-2004

At the annual meeting held on March 27, 2003, the following officers were elected.

  • Club Chair - Phil O'Dwyer
  • Club Vice-Chair - Marilyn Stephan
  • Secretary-Treasurer - Ralph O. Conklin
  • Trustee - Laura Gogola
  • Trustee - Mary Spinney

Club representatives to affiliated bodies were elected at Oakland County Democratic Convention and 9th Congressional District Convention which were held prior to the February 15th State Party Convention.

They are:

  • Cathy King - Oakland County Democratic Party Executive Committee
  • Ralph O. Conklin - 9th Congressional District Executive Committee
  • Marilyn Stephan - Oakland County Democratic Party Corresponding Secretary

If you have any questions about our club, the Oakland Democratic Party, or 9th Congressional District, contact the appropriate representative.

- Ralph Conklin Back to the Contents

The 9th District News

This new congressional district continues to develop its structure. A Committee structure that parallels the OCDP model has been approved. The Chair has assigned members of the Executive Committee to be the original members of the committees, with additional members to be added at a later date. The Chair assigned committee positions from a list of three choices make by each Executive Committee member.

Some members were disappointed because they did not receive his/her first preference and wanted to join other committee's deliberations and have voting power. Such a motion was passed and it also gave title and power of vice-chair to each member. This gave each committee a Chair and at least three Vice- Chair. A problem will develop, when the Chair is absent as to who will lead the meeting.

FYI

During the Easter Recess, State Senator Shirley Johnson, (R-Royal Oak) scheduled office hours to meet with constituents. The following meetings were held: (1) Bloomfield Hills City Hall, (2) Walsh College in Troy, (3) Baldwin Public Library in Birmingham; Madison Heights Library, Hunter Community Center in Clawson, and Royal Oak Senior/Community Center.

This is a list of all the communities in the State Senatorial District except Berkley. If you believe that Senator Johnson should have scheduled a meeting in Berkley, call her office at 1-877-736-1384 (toll free) or send an e-mail to OfcSJohnson@senate.michigan.gov. Help her understand that our city and its residents are just as important as the residents of other cities and townships that are part of the 13th State Senatorial District.

- Ralph Conklin Back to the Contents

Peters Appointed as New Lottery Director

Former state Senator Gary Peters, who was our representative for eight years, was recently appointed state lottery commissioner. In making the appointment, Governor Granhom cited his background as a business executive and a state legislator.

She praised this unique combination of technical expertise and public service would ensure that the lottery generates the most money for our school's coffers and will be run with absolute integrity.

Term limits forced Peters to leave the Senate at the end of 2002. He then ran for attorney general and lost to Mike Cox. It is good to see that he can continue to work for our state goverment and our Democratic Party.

- Ralph Conklin Back to the Contents

April 26th State Central Meeting

The big issue was whether or not the delegates would adopt a Delegate Selection Plan that would defy the Democratic National Committee (DNC) so Michigan's 2004 presidential caucuses would occur on the same date as New Hampshire's primary (January 27th). It became a moot point however when a compromise alternate date was hammered out the week before the Saturday's State Central meeting.

On Saturday, National Committee Member Debbie Dingell and Senator Carl Levin, the leaders behind the original plan, presented the delegates a Resolution On Michigan Democratic Delegate Selection Plan-2004 that changed the January 27th date to February 7th. This resolution was then unanimously adopted.

Both Dingell and Levin expressed their disappointment that in 2004 Michigan would not prevail in holding its caucuses on the same date as New Hampshire. The February 7, 2004 date is ten days after the New Hampshire primary. The reason for the compromise was that the leadership of the major labor unions (UAW and AFL-CIO) would not back Dingell and Levin's plan.

Their major concern was the threat by the DNC to not seat half of Michigan's allotted delegates. However, the adopted Resolution does outline "... the formation of a Commission to develop recommendations for action by the DNC on the scheduling of future Democratic presidential primaries and caucuses, including whether the same states should always be given the exception to go first..."

The 2004 Democratic National Convention will adopt a resolution creating the commission and it will issue its report by December 31, 2005 for action by the DNC.

What this means is that for the presidential caucuses and primaries to be held in 2008 a new system should be in place that will take away the "first in the nation status" from Iowa and New Hampshire. Dingell and Levin assured the delegates that if this Commission's recommendations are not to Michigan's satisfaction, Michigan shall take the fight to the convention floor in 2008.

Other actions take at State Central included adoption of the 2003-2004 budget and calendar, and the election of fifty-four officers at large. 9th Congressional District Chair Sigrid Grace was included in this group. Several other Oakland County members were also elected.

- Cathy King, 9th District State Central Delegate Back to the Contents

Oakland County Democratic Party News

Phil Hart Dinner

The Troy Somerset Inn was the location of this year's Phil Hart Dinner on Sunday, April 13. 500 Democrats and a lone Republican (more if his bodyguards accompanied Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson) attended the dinner. The guest speaker, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick; Ethel Schwartz, Precinct Delegate of the Year; and Martin Manna, President of the Chaldean American Reaching and Encouraging (C.A.R.E.) organization were among the honored guests.

If you want to learn more about the event, you could ask Cathy King, Marilyn Stephan, or Ralph Conklin, all of whom attended the dinner.

Committees

At recent county party meetings participants have discussed strategies for strengthening and invigorating the county party. Let's face it: for us it starts right here in Berkley! Unless we work for a Democratic victory in 2004, it won't happen in Berkley. One way to help is to volunteer for one of the following county committees: Message, editorial, Candidate Recruitment and Training, and Voter Registration. To learn more and to volunteer, call the OCDP office at 248-584-0510.

Membership

There has been no dues formula for membership in the OCDP in the past, except for the One Hundred Club. As a result of the discussions at recent meetings, it was decided that Oakland County Democrats should be given the opportunity to donate to the County Democratic Party treasury. Memberships in the OCDP will not include membership in the Michigan Democratic Party. There is one exception, which is noted below.

OCDP Annual Membership Dues Opportunities

  • Chairman's Club ... $2,500
  • Senator's Club ... $1,200
  • Representatives' Club ... $600
  • Commissioners' Club ... $300
  • One Hundred Club ... $120 *
  • Supporters' Club ... $60
  • Family Membership ... $40
  • Basic Membership ... $15
  • Students and Retires ... $10

* The 0ne Hundred Club membership fee includes a basis state membership if desired.

All the revenues will stay with the OCDP, except for the One Hundred Club members who request state party membership. All who submit membership fees - at any level - will receive the county newsletter.

- Marilyn Stephan, OCDP Corresponding Secretary Back to the Contents

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