Oklahoma Democratic Party Convention

[Double A]

Dean, party chair push grassroots efforts

The Norman Transcript

Long-time Democrat Alice Smith has seen the tides turn in the Oklahoma Democratic Party and believes the party will come back swinging the next election.

Smith, the chair of the Stephens County Democrats, said the state party was controlled from the top down prior to 2005. She said at state Democratic conventions in the past people would scream at each other and the party was not unified.

"We flipped the pyramid over today from the bottom up," Smith said. " ... We had to find a way to disagree."

Smith was one of more than 600 delegates who attended the 2007 Oklahoma Democratic Party State Convention in Oklahoma City Saturday where new party leaders were elected and Howard Dean, Democratic National Committee chairman, delivered the keynote speech.

Ivan Holmes, campaign manager for the 2006 election of Labor Commissioner Lloyd Fields, defeated Ben Odom, vice-chair of the Democratic Party, for the state's chair position.

Kitti Asberry, former Oklahoma County chair, defeated Debbie Hogue-Downing, former state party treasurer, in the vice-chair race. Rep. Anastasia Pittman, D-Oklahoma City, was vying for the vice-chair post, but declined the nomination saying she was on the same ticket as Odom.

Holmes said he decided to run for the chair position "because I truly believe the Democratic Party does need to get back to the grassroots."

Dean, in his keynote speech, encouraged similar efforts.

"In the last 30 years we didn't talk to our neighbors, we just talked to ourselves," he said. "This has to be piece by piece, door by door, vote by vote, precinct by precinct, state by state."

A Goldsby Democrat agreed.

Oklahoma historically has been a Democratic state, said Jill Dudley, vice chair of the McClain County Democrats.

"It's getting people back to their roots," she said. "In Oklahoma, Democrats really do represent values. (It's important to) not let others define values for us. It's time to say that's not who we are."

Dean, who lost the Democratic bid to Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, in the 2004 presidential election, also reminded the Democratic delegates in the room who works for whom.

"We want to ask everyone for their vote," said Dean, the former Vermont governor. " ... We are the bosses of the politicians we seek to elect."

He outlined the three items Democrats can use when seeking more votes: fairness, toughness and fiscal responsibility.

"Fairness doesn't mean we're going to give everything to everyone who doesn't have anything," Dean said, noting that fairness is about creating equality for everyone.

"The people of this country know the Democrats are fair and the Republicans are not fair," he said.

Dean hopes the idea of toughness will be part of the rebuilding process within the Democratic Party.

"You've got to be tough and smart to defend Oklahoma," he said.

He believes the Republicans have not been smart when it comes to money.

"They get tax cuts, we get the bills," Dean said.

About 20 Democrats decided Saturday's convention was a time to protest against some Democratic leaders in the state.

"We believe Democrats should stand together," said Jo Davis, of Shawnee. "We don't elect Democrats so they can vote Republican."

Davis, a delegate from Pottawatomie County, held signs along with fellow Democrats that indicated names and photos of Oklahoma House and Senate members who endorsed and voted for an anti-abortion measure that recently passed the House and Senate.

"We're delegates to the state, this is where we come to say what we believe," said Paul Thompson, of Oklahoma City, who held a sign that said "Sleeping with the enemy," then listed all representatives who voted for the measure.

Allowing people to have their voices heard is what Smith is thankful for. She was joined by her son and granddaughters at the convention and said they are starting up a young Democrats group in Stephens County. She said they are using MySpace and text messaging to get the word out about politics.

"We have to replace ourselves as we get older," Smith said.

[Double A]

Characterizing Democrats as fair, tough and fiscally responsible, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean on Saturday urged Oklahoma Democrats to continue the momentum to enable a Democratic presidential candidate to carry the state for the first time in more than 40 years.


Polls show Oklahomans are becoming more discouraged with President Bush's handling of the Iraq war, Dean said; 52 percent now are disappointed with the president's management of the war.

"Americans are ready for a change, and Oklahomans are ready for a change," the former Vermont governor told nearly 800 delegates to the state convention at the Coca-Cola Bricktown Events Center. "And they see what we're trying to do, which is extricate us from a situation that we should never have gotten into in the first place."

Dean told The Oklahoman the national party is looking for a strong candidate to oppose U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe's re-election bid next year. Gov. Brad Henry, who has shown no interest in seeking the post, would be an excellent candidate, Dean said, noting Henry's 2-to-1 defeat last year of Ernest Istook, a former longtime congressman.

It's unknown, Dean said, if the Democratic National Committee will "make a pretty good push" in Oklahoma against Inhofe, R-Tulsa, who has been in the Senate since 1994.

Dean helped out the party by agreeing in July 2005 to pay more than $100,000 annually for the salaries of three employees through 2008. While reducing the debt, the Oklahoma Democratic Party was able to get eight of nine statewide Democrats elected in 2006.

Delegates elected Ivan Holmes of Oklahoma City as the party's chairman. He defeated the vice chairman, Ben Odom of Norman, 366 to 258.

Holmes, who assumed the unpaid post immediately, said he will not serve as the party's paid executive director. Pryor will continue until at least the end of the month as executive director, which pays about $60,000 annually.

Holmes, communications director for state Labor Commissioner Lloyd Fields, said he is giving up his job that pays about $50,000 annually to serve as chairman.

Delegates also elected Kitti Asberry of Oklahoma City as vice chairman, re-elected Walter Jenny of Edmond as secretary and elected Jana Harkins of Oklahoma City as treasurer.

Democrats passed resolutions including asking the U.S. House of Representatives to start investigating Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for possible impeachment, establishing civil unions regardless of gender and a statewide vote on the use of medical marijuana when prescribed by a licensed physician.