Local Democrats toast FDR, celebrate party principles while Gang of Four dines on cold barbecued bologna.

With nary a good beer in sight,
settling for a Sprite in a plastic cup:
$1.00

Beginning silent auction bid
on a U.S. President matrushka doll:
$100.00

Dinner and a table for you and nine
of your closest Democratic stalwarts:
$200.00

City council’s Gang of Four
nowhere in sight:
(Steve) Price-less.

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At last evening’s annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner at the Grand Convention Center, the Floyd County Democratic Party offered an extended homage to four-term president Franklin Delano Roosevelt, providing local party members with the opportunity to use this non-election year to begin the process of education in preparation for the 2006 campaign.

For recommended coverage 0of the event, go to Democratic Party Dinner a Triumph, by Volunteer Hoosier’s Randy Smith.

Given the celebration of FDR’s bountiful political legacy, and with retired Indiana House speaker John Gregg and former 9th district congressman Baron Hill both in attendance, the intended seminar on what it means to be a Democrat was bound to focus more on the larger national and state pictures than the local.

But party chairman Randy Stumler sought to provide balance, recognizing local office holders and future candidates, and noting the importance of activism at the local level as a preface to the party improving its performance in state and national races.

Stumler urged party members to attend upcoming meetings at which local issues will be discussed prior to the formulation of a platform for the 2006 election campaign.

While Hill’s and Gregg’s speeches were rousingly effective post-meal sermons to the faithful, the central point of the evening was Stumler’s emphasis on education in the context of the party’s future local identity.

When the party’s elder statesman, Warren Nash, stepped down as chairman last spring, Stumler was resoundingly elected to replace the former mayor in the position of local party stewardship, and judging from the new chairman’s casually efficient but focused performance last night, it is a job to which he is well suited.

Along with Stumler, a new central committee was chosen: Marcey Wisman, Tony Toran and Adam Dickey. For those of a progressive bent, the keys to the party bandwagon seem to be passing to a new generation, and a more hopeful sign for the party’s future would be difficult to find, but naturally the new team must prove its worth to the party’s veterans by organizing the party, administering it, financing it, and ultimately, winning elections.

On what philosophical basis will the Democratic Party contest the 2006 elections on the local level?

Will it be on the basis of core party principles, properly retained but sagely updated to reflect 21st-century realities?

Or will it be on the basis of the increasingly discredited and shamefully incestuous ward heeling, pandering and self-serving demagoguery typified by the city council’s obstructionist Gang of Four?

Progress or regress? How conservative can a Democrat be before a Democrat ceases to be?

Speaking as a left-leaning free agent, last evening represented a good start towards answering these many questions in a positive manner. Speaker Gregg noted that both monarchists and anarchists are welcome in the Democratic Party ... and if so, there's hope yet.