Democratic Party

Bowie -- At a diversity forum yesterday at Bowie State University, Gov. Martin O'Malley told an audience that blacks and whites alike share the responsibility to ensure racial justice and opportunity for all. "I grew up in a household where the names King and Kennedy were revered ... not so much for what they did in their lives but for the needful things they gave their lives to pursue," O'Malley said, referring to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., President...

Japanese voters repudiated Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday - and in no uncertain terms - over economic mismanagement. But if it slows down his desire to remilitarize Japan, that can only be a good consequence. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party lost control of the upper house of parliament, and the opposition Democratic Party of Japan is foursquare against Mr. Abe's nationalist tendencies. An immediate result may be the withdrawal of Japanese ships from the Indian Ocean once their authorization expires in November.

WHATEVER happened to personal privacy, the elemental presumption that everyone is entitled, as a matter of basic human dignity, to certain areas of life that belong to him or her alone?This simple assumption once applied, so I was taught, to every citizen -- big or small, rich or poor. What went on in the sanctity of one's own home or the private quarters of one's own mind was none of my business, or yours -- or the public's.There were decent boundaries that common courtesy respected and, where necessary, courts of law protected.

GOP officials wrong, but Democratic Party is not guilt-freePaul Delaney was correct when he chastised Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi and Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia for their association with the Council of Conservative Citizens ("Ol' South raises its ugly head in Lott, Barr," Jan. 17).No one who supports equal opportunity should allow himself to be associated with groups that espouse theories of racial superiority and separatism. Our Republican leaders must resign their memberships and cut off relationships with such groups now.However, what Mr. Delaney has overlooked is that such associations are not unique to Republicans.

REPUBLICANS in Maryland have a rare opportunity to break out of the box that has prevented them from winning statewide offices. But such a dramatic step would threaten the status quo, something that alarms many dedicated party officials.Without bold action, the state GOP seems consigned to permanent minority-party status. Democrats have a big edge in voter registration, a lock on top state posts and a deep bench of polished local officeholders eager to continue Democratic dominance.In the face of such overwhelming odds, it is not surprising that the GOP's strongest gubernatorial candidate in 30 years, Ellen Sauerbrey, got run over by a fast-moving Democratic freight train driven by Gov. Parris Glendening last November.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- With much hindsight and a little humor, President Nelson Mandela, delivered his last state-of-the-nation address to Parliament here -- a message of hope to a nation beset by crime, corruption and unemployment.But the 80-year-old president, who will retire after elections expected in May, also acknowledged that post-apartheid South Africa is still "in many respects a sick society."The freedom fighter-turned-statesman recalled a letter he wrote from prison a decade ago, expressing his concern for a South Africa "split into two hostile camps: black on one side and whites on the other, slaughtering one another."

State Sen. Robert R. Neall became a Democrat yesterday, declaring that he had been made to feel increasingly "uncomfortable and unwelcome" in the Republican Party he served for almost three decades.The veteran legislator and former Anne Arundel County executive, long a target of complaints from GOP conservatives, said he had made "not a political decision but a personal one."Neall, 51, said that in the Democratic Party "there's less of an expectation of adherence to straight down-the-line litmus-test-type issues."

BOBBY Neall called his move a misery reduction. He found out theres precious little room for a moderate -- even one with a very conservative resume on budget-and-tax issues -- in Marylands Republican Party.That's why Mr. Neall-- former Republican minority leader in the House of Delegates, former Republican Anne Arundel County executive, current Republican state senator -- quit the state GOP two days ago to join the states majority party, the Democrats.The loss of state Sen. Robert Neall to the Democratic Party is a crushing blow for state Republicans, though many GOP activists are happily shouting, good riddance, because they never liked his willingness to broker deals with Democrats and to put problem-solving ahead of party-building.

Jack A. Gullo Jr., the 31-year-old mayor of the small Carroll County town of New Windsor, announced yesterday that he is leaving the Republican Party to become a Democrat.Officials of his new party hailed the switch as a major coup, while the state GOP termed it "inconsequential."Whatever the case, state Democratic leaders all but rolled out a red carpet for Gullo as he became the only Democrat to hold elected office in staunchly conservative Carroll."He's been a leader in a county that quite candidly has not been as aggressive on issues such as sprawl as we'd like," said Gov. Parris N. Glendening, who presented Gullo with a commemorative certificate and Democratic Party cuff links.

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia -- Out of power and mostly out of sight, pro-Western politician Zoran Djindjic has not yet run out of ideas.Even as war rages overhead, the leader of this country's Democratic Party is seeking to keep his eyes on a future prize for Serbia -- democracy. And he's also engaged in what might be the toughest profession in town."It is my job to be a democratic politician in the Balkans," he said in a telephone interview.The West is giving war a chance to end Kosovo's crisis and transform Yugoslavia.

The Sun's Laura Vozzella reported this week that Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith is selling his house in Reisterstown and moving to an apartment in Cockeysville, with the thought of possibly running for state Senate in the 7th District (now represented by Sen. Andy Harris, who is probably going to run for Congress). Really? When Dutch Ruppersberger finished his two terms as Baltimore County executive, there was a strain of thought that saw Congress as a step down - much less the General Assembly.

The bright red and blue-lettered T-shirts worn by some Washington-bound protesters Saturday morning set the tone for the day of denouncing big government, high spending and President Barack Obama's agenda. "I'll keep my guns, freedom and money" was in red lettering. "You can keep the change" was in blue. Howard Del. Warren E. Miller, a Republican who later also showed up in a news photo taken at the march carrying a sign that said "Liar, Liar, pants on fire," wore one of the T-shirts. Loretta Shields, former GOP party leader in Howard, wore another that said "Proud member of the angry mob, and I vote."

Washington - -A photograph of Maryland Rep. Frank Kratovil Jr. being hanged in effigy is prominently featured in a new national Democratic Party Web video that claims that public outbursts over President Barack Obama's health care overhaul plan are being manufactured by opponents. The anti-Kratovil episode, during a small protest outside his Salisbury district office last week, gained notice at the time on the Internet and in the local news media. But the Democratic Party ad, and related comments by White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, figure to generate wider, and unwanted, attention on the freshman lawmaker, already one of the most vulnerable House Democrats in the country.

An admittedly nervous public speaker, Susan Turnbull addressed about 800 Democratic faithful at a swank annual gala last week. The new party chairwoman proceeded to confuse the two Mikes who lead the chambers of the Maryland General Assembly and flub the title of Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown, calling him attorney general. "Whoa," Turnbull exclaimed, waving both arms as if she were teetering on an edge. "Doug has probably already gotten a message on his BlackBerry," she said, referring to Douglas F. Gansler, who actually holds the state's top legal post.

Protect firefighters with decaBDE ban The Baltimore Sun's article "Looking out for the consumer" (April 5) suggested that it is unclear if the flame retardant chemical decabrominated diphenyl ether, also known as decaBDE, is harmful. While decaBDE is a chemical flame retardant that was developed to save lives, its use certainly has some harmful and unintended consequences. Like many other modern chemical substances, when decaBDE burns in a structure fire, it creates dense black smoke that reduces the visibility of firefighters.

Washington - Upstate New York, a cradle of modern party politics, is the unlikely site of a showdown between a couple of Maryland pols, Michael Steele and Chris Van Hollen. Their minidrama is playing out in the background of the first voter test of Barack Obama's presidency, a special election to fill a vacancy in the House of Representatives. It opened up when then-Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat, had the good fortune to get appointed to Hillary Clinton's spot in the U.S. Senate.

These are especially trying times for Maryland Republicans. They suffered crushing defeats in the most recent election. They are outnumbered and often sidelined in Annapolis. They are having trouble raising campaign cash. And internal tensions are simmering at the state party's headquarters. But they also see an opportunity in this General Assembly session. There the GOP is honing a critique of Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley's fiscal stewardship, and they are hammering topics such as rising electricity rates, driver's licenses for illegal immigrants and a proposed death penalty repeal, issues on which they see themselves as aligned with mainstream Marylanders.

S. Ronald Ellison, a prominent Baltimore attorney and partner in the law firm of Fedder and Garten who was also active in local Democratic Party circles, died Tuesday of lung cancer at Union Memorial Hospital. He was 68. Born and raised in West Baltimore, Mr. Ellison was a 1957 graduate of City College. He earned a bachelor's degree from the Johns Hopkins University in 1961 and his law degree in 1964 from the University of Maryland School of Law. "Ronnie enjoyed gambling and liked telling the story that he put himself through Hopkins playing pinochle," said Joann Rodgers, a cousin who lives in Baltimore.

Just four years ago, a flood of books and essays hit newsstands and shelves, all diagnosing what went wrong with the Democratic Party and how to fix it. A cottage industry emerged, of which my own book was a small part. What a difference a few years makes. After the 2006 midterm and 2008 presidential election cycles, a new set of analyses is emergent, asking the same question but of the other major party: What's wrong with the Republicans? In those back-to-back cycles, the Republicans have lost not only the White House but also a dozen U.S. senators and more than 50 House seats, seven net governorships and hundreds of state legislative seats.

The election's over; should political parties be over too? Is it time to junk the D's and the R's after politicians' names, and all the baggage that comes with them? How meaningful and relevant are candidates' political parties anymore? When a New England Republican can be more progressive than a Texas Democrat, when millions regard themselves as independents and occupy the takeout-menu middle on political issues, why do we need to belong to parties? Barack Obama is in the Democratic Party but in some ways seems not to be of it. He built his own political operation and fundraising mechanisms, and so - unlike Bill Clinton, who constructed his political machine within the party framework - owes less to the Democratic edifice than he does to the support of an even bigger tent full of Americans.