On the same night that about 200 prominent Maryland Republicans gathered in Baltimore for a big-ticket fundraiser for John McCain, a similarly sized group of Democrats assembled in Columbia and sang out for Barack Obama.
The event, "Sing-Out for Change," was held Tuesday at the Meeting House in Oakland Mills. It took the enthusiastic, mostly middle-aged crowd back to the civil rights movement of the 1960s with folk and protest songs such as "The Times They Are A-Changin'," "If I Had a Hammer," "Kumbaya," and "Blowing in the Wind."
"To me it's a matter of great emotion," said Ana Spitzmesser, 68, of Columbia, a retired university Spanish professor.
She and others mentioned a link to the civil rights movement, pointing out that the date Obama would give his acceptance speech to be the presidential nominee is exactly 45 years after Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.
Donald E. Murphy, chairman of the Maryland delegation to the Republican convention and a former delegate representing part of Howard County, commended the spirit of the Obama event but doesn't envision a GOP equivalent any time soon.
"Any time people get together for political action is a good thing," he said. "That said, the Republicans won't be singing "Kumbaya." I don't think we'll be revisiting the '60s."
The McCain campaign will have a presence at the county fair, but no specific events are planned in Howard right now, organizers said.
Participants at the Obama event said the sing-out exemplified the kind of grass-roots campaign they hope will propel the Illinois senator to the White House.
"That's what it's about - something different," said Betty Shepherd, 59, of Columbia, describing her feelings about the event and the Obama campaign.
Art Spilkia, 65, of Hickory Ridge, who moved to Columbia from Queens, N.Y., in 1972, came up with the idea for the event, then organized and financed it with approval from Obama campaign leaders in the county, he said.
A recently retired federal employee who's never been politically active, Spilkia sees himself as an example of what those in the Obama campaign call a "movement" rather than a campaign.
"Barack happened and I got into it and wanted to do something for him," Spilkia said.
"Maybe you'll get a Cabinet post," cracked Mark Steinhorn, 62, of Laurel, an old friend.
"This is my passion," Spilkia said. "I see Barack as somebody who can change the world forever."
