As Republicans celebrated their convention's choice of Sen. John McCain and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Howard County Democrats were mobilizing to help push their nominees - Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden - into the White House.
At the Democrats' annual Labor Day picnic at Cedar Lane Park, County Executive Ken Ulman used McCain's surprise choice of the little-known Palin as a rallying point for about 200 party members. About the same size crowd had gathered at a noisy east Columbia sports bar Aug. 28 to see Obama's historic acceptance speech as the first African-American ever nominated for president by a major political party.
Fresh off the excitement of that convention, Democrats need to stay fired up, said party Chairman Michael C.A McPherson. In addition to tales of political thrills and celebrity sightings in Denver, Ulman said that McCain's surprise choice of Palin debunks McCain's reputation as an independent thinker.
McCain chose Palin as a running mate rather than a centrist such as Independent-Demcratic Sen. Joe Lieberman, Ulman said, to satisfy the right wing of the GOP.
"This is somebody who represents the furthest right they could think of," he said of Palin, suggesting the choice shows that McCain's claims of being willing to work across party lines do not hold up.
The picnic also featured speeches by McPherson and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, co-chair of Obama's Maryland campaign, who said it is time to reform health care to make it affordable and available to all.
Cummings told of a constituent who is a cancer patient and showed him bills for $4,000 for one chemotherapy treatment, and $8,000 for one injection of a drug that helps rebuild the immune system. Even with insurance paying most of the cost, the man, who lives on a disability pension, could not afford his share of the costs. In the case of the chemotherapy, that totaled $1,700.
"We are better than that!" Cummings shouted. "This is a campaign to take back our country."
Bob Pratz, the McCain campaign's chairman for Howard County, took strong exception to Ulman's views.
"Ken Ulman is throwing red meat to the lions," Pratz said, referring to the highly partisan picnic and the attempt to rally core Democrats.
Pratz asserted that McCain has shown more willingness to work across party lines than Obama has, and McCain's status as a conservative was never in question.
"John McCain has proudly declared himself to be a conservative," Pratz said. "He is an independent thinker."
