MyDD :: Grassroots in Action: Frederick, MD, Part II

Grassroots in Action: Frederick, MD, Part II

by Tony Soltero, Wed Mar 08, 2006 at 07:50:29 PM EST

Hello fellow Dems!

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a diary about Frederick Blue, a grassroots effort to build a new Democratic infrastructure for Frederick County, Maryland. Well, I thought I'd provide a little more background and a progress report.

We've taken many paths to arrive at our organization. I was involved with the Howard Dean campaign around these parts (which was my first-ever direct involvement in any political effort); eventually I worked with Frederick for Kerry, where our little network got bigger. We've got a couple of people who've been involved in local Frederick politics for a long time, and a few newcomers to the scene. We all share the same goal -- bringing our nation back to sanity by acting locally. George W. Bush has made activists of us all.

Some of us got involved in last year's Frederick City election, supporting the mayoral and aldermanic campiagns. The results were a mixed bag; though the Dems failed to hold onto the mayorship (it's a complicated story; suffice it to say that the Dem incumbent got defeated in the primary by a former mayor, which scrambled the equation), we were able to gain a 3-2 majority on the Board of Aldermen.

Reading Crashing the Gate, I was struck by the parallels between the netroots' leaders' struggle to get through to a sclerotic national Democratic Party and our own efforts to get heard by the local Democratic powers-that-be. That said, most of the local Democratic "elders" are supportive of our project; they're going to give us a chance to show them.

And show them we will. We have fundraising going now full-throttle, the fruits of which will be primarily invested in local publicity. We've got a name for our online publication, the Frederick Blueprint, and we've recruited seven writers, with more to come. We are developing a strong, muscular website that will be the talk of the Frederick netizen community. We've even got a logo!

We're still on target for a May rollout. I'll be back again in a couple of weeks with an update.

Good night and good luck...

Tags: activism, grassroots, infrastructure (all tags)

Permalink :: 4 Comments :: Post a Comment

Re: Grassroots in Action: Frederick, MD, Part II (none / 0)

Awesome, Tony! Keep up the good work.

by Isaac Smith on Wed Mar 08, 2006 at 09:22:23 PM EST

Re: Grassroots in Action: Frederick, MD, Part II (none / 0)

BTW, here are a few links concerning the Frederick City election:

This WaPo article details how Ron Young (D), mayor of Frederick during the 1980s, came to run again for the post in 2005 amid the bitter conflicts between then-mayor Dougherty and the Republican majority on the Board of Aldermen. Young wound up beating Dougherty in the primary after a bitter campaign, in which Dougherty, known for her combative style, made a stunning allegation that Young had been involved in a prostitution scandal that had engulfed her Republican predecessor. It was a reckless charge that, some say, cost her the election.

After that, the campaign became much more civil, as the Republican candidate, former city engineer Jeff Holtzinger, did not differ much from Young in his policy proposals, and Holtzinger himself is a level-headed moderate all too rare in today's GOP. But Young, despite his considerable fame in Frederick (he almost single-handedly brought the city out of the economic doldrums it had been in during the 70s and was a pioneer in Smart Growth), lost in the general election; and some allege that Dougherty's supporters, furious at Young for, in their view, usurping the rightful mayor, voted for Holtzinger in order to deny Young ultimate victory.

So yeah, Frederick's just a sleepy little town. :-)

by Isaac Smith on Wed Mar 08, 2006 at 10:11:34 PM EST

On the bench... (none / 0)

We're gathering a strong crop of new Dems running in the area, including Kai Hagen for county commissioner, Andrew Duck for Congress, and George Wenschhof for State Senate.

We'll be doing everything we can to help them (and others) out.

by Tony Soltero on Wed Mar 08, 2006 at 10:40:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Grassroots in Action: Frederick, MD, Part II (none / 0)

Sounds great. Keep on truckin!

by Quinton on Wed Mar 08, 2006 at 10:12:53 PM EST

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