Democratic Party

Josh White, who took over daily operations of a dispirited Maryland Democratic Party after the Republican gubernatorial victory in 2002, is leaving the organization nine months before next year's primary. A widely respected political professional, White, 38, was hired in 2003 as executive director, but lost the title after Terry Lierman replaced Isiah Leggett as party chairman last year. Lierman wanted greater control over party functions, and White became political director while still handling most management functions such as budgeting and planning.

Political consultant Julius Henson, facing charges stemming from the infamous 2010 "relax" robocall that has already resulted in one criminal conviction, wants to put the entire state Democratic Party on trial. It's an odd defense strategy - he seems not to be focused on either the question of whether he actually did what he is accused of doing or whether the robocall was protected free speech. But it's not altogether surprising, either. Mr. Henson has long cultivated a bad-boy reputation, and he has never been one to pass up a chance for the spotlight.

GOV. WILLIAM DONALD SCHAEFER is leaving behind a living will. In his political afterlife he'd like to witness the rebuilding of the state's Democratic Party and he believes that Sen. Barbara Mikulski is the person who can do the job.Say what? Isn't this the very same pilgrim who boycotted the 1984 Democratic convention in favor of a visit to the San Diego Zoo? And didn't Mr. Schaefer endorse Republican George Bush for president in 1992? And wasn't Rep. Helen Bentley in the primary race for governor with Mr. Schaefer's imprimatur?

Political consultant Julius Henson plans to suggest in court this week that he is being prosecuted by the state's Democratic establishment only because he dared to work for Republicans, his attorney said Monday. Henson is accused of election fraud stemming from a 2010 Election Day "robocall" that prosecutors say was intended to trick black voters into staying home. But Henson's attorney contended Monday that prosecutors would not have brought the case had his client continued to work for Democrats, as he had in previous campaigns.

WASHINGTON -- The new Democratic Party platform addresses some of the usual concerns of federal and other workers as well as some other issues that have come to the forefront in the 1990s, such as sexual harassment and environmental degradation.The platform, adopted at last week's Democratic National Convention in New York, sets the goals of the party for the coming four years. The plan was based on input from officials and constituent groups from around the country.Marylanders sitting on the Democratic National Committee's platform committee included Comptroller Louis Goldstein, Ina Taylor, Leon Billings, Margareta Crampton, Al From and Robert P. Legg.

WASHINGTON -- Boarding a plane in Miami in November 1987, Sen. Bill Bradley ran into a political reporter who asked him why he wasn't running for the Democratic nomination for president. The field of candidates, then known as "The Seven Dwarfs," seemed ripe for the taking, the reporter suggested."It isn't the right time for me," the New Jersey Democrat replied. Sure, he conceded, he would like to be president some day. But the timing just didn't fit. Then he spent the next two hours leaning over the back of his seat and picking the reporter's brain on every development in the campaign to date.

ANNAPOLIS -- Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton made another personal bid last night for the backing of Democratic Party regulars in Maryland's March 3 presidential primary, emphasizing his party credentials and sharply denouncing President George Bush.Representatives of Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin and Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey urged the party regulars at the meeting to consider their man. Representatives of a fourth Democratic candidate, former Massachusetts Sen. Paul E. Tsongas, were also present. Mr. Tsongas will speak today at the University of Maryland law school in Baltimore.

WASHINGTON -- LEADING Democrats are playing a cynical game on the question of the 1992 presidential election. On the one hand, the party's most prominent spokesmen are telling both Democratic activists and the voters at large that President Bush has been a dAmerican children are at risk, the health care system is in collapse, the infrastructure is deteriorating, the streets are overrun with drugs and the homeless, and the gulf between the rich and poor...

ARLINGTON, Va. -- White House senior adviser Karl Rove must have sent counterintelligence agents to infiltrate and sow confusion in the Democratic Party. How else to explain the dysfunctional behavior of so many Democrats in recent days? Bill Clinton must be spinning in his bed. The public has watched a reprise of what former U.N. Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick referred to more than 20 years ago as "those San Francisco Democrats." The farthest left wing of the party has reached up from the grave, like a character in a Stephen King novel, grabbing Democrats by the ankles and placing them in danger of political death.

NEW YORK -- When Jesse Jackson spoke to the Democratic National Convention here the other night in a distinctly subordinate role, he was notably sparing in his praise of presidential nominee Bill Clinton. But he talked of the "genius of Ron Brown," the party chairman whose genius included squeezing an endorsement of Clinton from Jackson as the price of letting him address the party.It was a recognition of Brown's deft handling of the job he won 3 1/2 years ago amid expressed concerns that he would be a tool of Jackson, or of Ted Kennedy, or of black Democrats generally.

The all-out battle for women's votes has begun in earnest, with the respective presidential campaigns each seeking to take advantage of real (and perceived) mistakes by the opposition and its acolytes. The verbal volleyball match has been interesting to watch, as each camp seeks to prove how its candidate is the only true protector of women's rights. A brief review: The Obama administration commences a frontal assault on the conscience clause, that heretofore universally accepted exemption for religious institutions that prevented them from being forced to perform procedures and therapies contrary to their religious tenets.

For months, John Delaney ran his campaign for Congress as an outsider. But the day after he crushed his competition for the Democratic nomination in Maryland's 6th District, the Potomac businessman found himself lunching with two of the most powerful party leaders in the state. What's more, his campaign was fielding dozens of calls of support from top state Democrats and labor groups — many of whom had backed his leading opponent, state Sen. Rob Garagiola. Democrats moved rapidly Wednesday to coalesce around the first-time candidate, signaling the beginning of a general election fight for the state's westernmost district that will dominate the political landscape this year and help decide control of the House of Representatives.

Thanks to political anomalies like Sen. Bobby Zirkin who put their constituents above party politics, there is at least a glimmer of hope that Maryland citizens may not have to pay higher taxes this year to balance the state's budget ("Bobby Zirkin: secret Republican?" March 21). Senator Zirkin not only superbly represents his Baltimore County constituents in District 11, his political actions are helping all of Maryland's citizens. The question is, will enough other delegates have the stomach to challenge the tax-them-to-death policies of the governor and the state's Democratic Party?

The effort by the Democratic Party, the UAW, Michael Moore and - disgracefully - Rick Santorum himself to orchestrate Democratic crossover votes against Mitt Romney in the Michigan Republican primary fell well short of its goal ("Santorum and Romney fight their own class war in Michigan," Feb. 27). Mr. Santorum's unholy alliance with big government, big labor and extremists underscores his shortcomings as an economic lightweight and an all-too-frequent shill for the unions during his years in Congress.

It's no accident there's been a scarcity of meaningful conversation about what our presidential candidates have planned for Social Security and Medicare. Even in retiree-heavy Florida, details about the candidates' Social Security and Medicare proposals were largely missing in the recent primary election debate. Why? Because plans to privatize or cut Social Security and Medicare under the guise of deficit reduction represent a larger political disconnect between politicians and the average American voter than any other single issue facing candidates in this presidential campaign.

Opening a new line of attack in the contentious Democratic primary in Maryland's 6th Congressional District, State Sen. Rob Garagiola sent an e-mail to supporters Wednesday noting that his opponent, John Delaney, had made a political contribution to Republican Andy Harris in 2010. The e-mail includes a link to a Federal  Election Commission report documenting the $2,400 donation, which was made a week before the midterm election. Harris ultimately won the election by a large margin, beating incumbent Democrat Frank Kratovil in a race that helped swing control of the House to the GOP. “Many of you answered the call in that race by writing a check, going to the Eastern Shore, knocking doors, and volunteering as needed,” Garagiola writes in the e-mail.

The South Carroll Democratic Club will gather election pointers tomorrow from the party's state leader. Isiah Leggett, chairman of the state Democratic Party, will be the guest speaker at the recently revived club's monthly meeting at 7 p.m. in the Community Room of Carrolltown Center in Eldersburg. "We are hoping Leggett can help us to build up the party in Carroll County," said Nimrod Davis, who helped re-establish the Eldersburg club about six months ago. Leggett, a law professor at Howard University School of Law and a four-term Montgomery County councilman, spoke at the Carroll County Democrats' annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner this year.

WASHINGTON -- The Democratic National Committee has rejected the Maryland Democratic Party's plan for selecting delegates to the presidential nominating convention, forcing state party leaders to develop an acceptable alternative or risk losing delegates.Maryland's plan did not meet a new DNC requirement that delegates to the nominating convention be awarded to presidential candidates based on the candidates' popular vote totals in the March 3 primary.Maryland's plan instead rested on direct election of delegates, each committed to a particular presidential candidate.

The last time a Republican candidate for president defeated an incumbent Democrat running for reelection, the primary returns were a lopsided affair. Ronald Reagan won convincingly in New Hampshire and South Carolina (after George H.W. Bush took Iowa) and went on to capture nearly 60 percent of the GOP vote in a three-candidate field. Mr. Bush landed relatively few verbal blows of consequence - his infamous "voodoo economics" line to describe Mr. Reagan's supply-side philosophy being the exception.

Is there, or should there ever be, a point when a state is no longer penalized for its discriminatory past? Not according to the Department of Justice, which recently rejected a South Carolina law that would have required voters to show a valid photo ID before casting their ballots. Justice says the law discriminates against minorities. The Obama administration said, "South Carolina's law didn't meet the burden under the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which outlawed discriminatory practices preventing blacks from voting.