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Photo By Jymi Bolden
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(L-R) Dr. Jean Siebenaler, Dusty Rhodes, Tyrone
Yates and Tim Burke led a discussion of the future of
the local Democratic Party Dec. 5.
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Hamilton County Auditor Dusty Rhodes received a strong rebuke from his own party Dec. 5 as Democrats met to figure out what went wrong with the 2002 elections.
A party member mentioned Rhodes' behavior on election night, walking into the board of elections with Phil Heimlich, Republican candidate for the board of county commissioners.
Rhodes said he had simply met Heimlich on the street, which drew long-time party activist Jene Galvin out of his seat.
Dr. Jean Siebenaler, Heimlich's Democratic challenger, had asked Rhodes to make a visible stand with her, according to Galvin. But Rhodes responded by saying, "How does that help me?" Galvin said.
"Right," Rhodes said, unflinching.
"You son of a bitch!" Galvin yelled.
He said Rhodes indirectly insulted Siebenaler on election night.
"He said to me, 'I walk with the winners,' " Galvin said.
Even before that, Rhodes had agreed to speak at an event honoring Heimlich.
"What should I have done -- said no?" Rhodes asked.
"Yes!" the crowd answered in unison.
'We don't have a party'
Galvin said he and Rhodes are friends. But their clash illustrated a point Siebenaler made Dec. 5.
Siebenaler said she saw no fault in the way she ran her campaign.
"There isn't anything I would do different in my campaign, and I do not want to spend one more moment talking about what should have or could have been done," she said.
That, of course, is a remarkable statement coming from someone who received only 40 percent of the vote.
"The problem I see in retrospect is that we don't have a party," Siebenaler said.
Democrats must stop putting up sacrificial lambs without any party organization, she said. Voters don't pay attention to races until four to eight weeks before an election, and candidates can't be expected to explain what the party stands for every election, she said.
"We certainly don't have the media in this town to help us out," Siebenaler said.
She pointed to gaping holes in the party's grassroots leadership. Of the 1,013 precincts in the county, only about 450 have Democratic executives -- and many of the precinct executives are older people who are worn out, she said.
Rhodes emphasized one message over all others: Respect the voters' tax dollars. Republicans aren't always the fiscal conservatives they're made out to be, he said.
"Hamilton County continues to waste money like you wouldn't believe," Rhodes said. "That's the message our party has got to get together on."
County Commissioner Todd Portune agreed, but said it's about more than money. Teamwork is important, he said.
"In many regards, we're a bunch of free agents out there," he said. "It's a team effort, and what we don't have is a Democratic team in Hamilton County."
Portune said simply labeling the opposition won't work; his opponent tried calling him "Liberal Portune" two years ago and still lost.
"People value beliefs in this community and a sense of common sense," he said.
But Rhodes interjected that neither he nor Portune would have been elected without the mistakes of Republicans. Rhodes was elected after a Republican auditor allegedly gave tax breaks to friends. Portune unseated former County Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus, who lost favor by giving the Bengals too much control of the riverfront.
"Bob Bedinghaus did elect you, Todd," Rhodes said.
Just desserts
The point of the Dec. 5 forum, which some party members privately called an "autopsy," was not only to dissect the party's defeat, but also to brainstorm for new strategies.
Brewster Rhoads, chair of the unsuccessful campaign for the Cincinnati Public Schools' bond issue, lightheartedly kicked off the meeting by offering bite-sized Nestle Crunch candy bars "because it's crunch time for the Democrats," he said.
Rhoads brought up disturbing nationwide trends. As George W. Bush has quieted the most conservative parts of the Republican Party, some women and young people have been switching sides. In the 2000 presidential election, Al Gore had 54 percent of the female vote compared to 43 percent for Bush. But now the parties have a 50-50 split.
Even scarier, Rhoads said, are polls that show 47 percent of women support a missile defense system, compared to 29 percent a year or two ago. Perhaps scariest of all, 47 percent of Americans trust Bush most with education, compared to 38 percent who trust Democrats in Congress.
The Nov. 5 election losses didn't happen because Republicans had more voters, according to Rhoads. Voter turnout was down between 4 and 9 percent in both parties, he said.
Rhoads said local Democrats need a populist economic issue to contrast themselves with Republicans, something to point out they sometimes tax and spend as much as anyone.
Rhoads also pointed out that city voters are only one-third of the total in Hamilton County. Green Township, for example, has 40,000 voters.
"The numbers are just enormous," he said.
Tim Mara of Green Township challenged Siebenaler's organizational view, pointing out that most county voters live outside the city.
"To date we have not given the suburban voters of Hamilton County any reason to support our Democratic candidates," Mara said.
Even worse, he said, Siebenaler attached herself to a mass transit levy that 69 percent of the population opposed.
"Why did we put our arms around that issue when it was a sinking ship?" Mara asked.
'We need to stand up'
Steve Reece, father of Cincinnati Vice Mayor Alicia Reece, said Democrats try to run as Republicans, then get mad when they lose. He echoed the importance of teamwork.
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Photo By Jymi Bolden
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County Commissioner Todd Portune (right) leads a
standing ovation for Siebenaler (left).
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"We are not organized," he said.
A few times speakers asked why African Americans aren't more supportive. Reece said the party isn't sending out strong messages and isn't in the neighborhoods enough.
"Where is the Democratic Party on housing?" he asked.
African Americans don't understand the damage of Republican policies, he said.
Party supporter Ann Thompson said the energy is in the party.
"I see a lot of pent-up energy with no place to go," she said.
She said the Republicans benefit from more than 20 years of slogans and attacks on Democrats, such as labeling them "tax and spend" politicians.
"It's brainwashing," she said.
Thompson said the party has a tough time getting together on messages.
"We're all so fragmented in our ideas," she said. "It's sort of like re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic."
That brought Portune to his feet. The Democrats need to get back to the roots of the party by supporting a strong national defense, the Constitution and the potential of all humanity in contrast to the Republicans' attempt to impose one religion on everyone, he said.
"The other side has appealed to the baser parts of their interests and minimized human potential," Portune said. "We're not going to win elections by out-Republicaning the Republicans ... We don't need to sell ourselves out to win. We need to stand up for what we believe in."
A follow-up meeting is being planned for early next year. ©
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