The obituary reads: The Democratic Party in Calvert County, approximately seven decades old, died during the latter part of the twentieth and early twenty first century. She was born to an excited electorate motivated by Louie Goldstein, ready to openly share principles with neighbors and loved ones in order to ensure victories. She is barely survived by her volunteers who gathered momentum in the 1960’s, 70’s, and 80’s, to elect such long-termers as the country’s longest serving State Senate President, Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., and longest serving District Five Congressman Steny Hoyer. The loving, hard-working volunteers have since been waiting in vain for new young talent to be welcomed and supported in attempts to either facilitate relationships with elected leaders to ensure a continuation of important policies, or supported to break the glass ceiling to important elected offices at the state and federal level. She is also survived by still active Democratic committees in surrounding counties. Supporters held a memorial service that somehow went missed by the public outside of a small group of perhaps 30 people who had known her from the beginning. Memorial contributions can be made to the Democratic club of another county where it will be used to be a presence in the community, participate in voter registration drives, recognize volunteers during key annual events, and who maintain modern features such as a working website.
While melodramatic, I am trying to make the point that there has been a noticeable decline in the presence of the local Democratic engine since the turn of the century. While there have been periodic rebounds and moments of buzz, a noticeable overall downturn is a fact. There has been a small group of volunteers thanklessly doing almost everything for the last ten years without even so much as a thank you for their time and the recognition that should be afforded them at key events like the annual Goldstein Awards Dinner. Instead of the awards going to those volunteers and officers who have kept the party alive and thriving, the awards are sometimes given to individuals who have done almost nothing for the Democratic Party in Calvert County. From a complete lack of presence at the 2012 Relay for Life to one overwhelmed elderly volunteer struggling to man a complete presence at African American Family Day at Jeff Pat Park, these are the final death pangs.
No one feels the pain of this loss more than me. I grew up in a political family and as a young boy remember mingling through the rooms of politicos and elected leaders at my grandparent’s house, able to feel even then the living palpable electricity present in being a Democrat back then. While I consider myself firmly moderate, I am proud of the Democrat roots of my family. I remember as a young adult going to Democratic club meetings eager to share ideas, make contributions, and lead new initiatives only to finally realize that I was bucking the system by doing this. In fact, most people who showed up with ideas or suggestions of ways to revitalize the organization were met with a, “do it yourself and good luck” pessimism that has led to a slow trickle out the door. In recent elections no new Democrats were cultivated to run for some offices that ended up having no candidates at all to oppose Republicans. This is after hosting a Southern Maryland Summit designed to educate new, would-be leaders. No strategies to dominate offices and platform were organized. Instead, leadership said nothin
