By William Stricklin
Two weeks ago The Villager printed a most curious article (“V.R.D.C. looks strong in County Committee elections,” Sept. 7) in which my counterpart at the Village Reform Democratic Club was boasting of their success in this year’s Democratic County Committee elections. I say “curious” because the election had not occurred yet. Now that the votes have been cast and tallied, I welcome the opportunity to respond.
The purpose of County Committee is not for “bragging rights,” nor is it to put “egg on their face,” as the article said. It is to invigorate the voters of the Democratic Party and to encourage civic involvement by as many people as possible. We at the Village Independent Democrats take seriously the reform principles on which we were founded 48 years ago. We do not hire campaign workers: each member of our campaign team is a volunteer with roots in this community. Nor would we ever run anyone for County Committee without his or her knowledge. The V.I.D. could have successfully challenged the nominating petitions of the V.R.D.C. (as they, usually unsuccessfully, did ours), but our idealism compels us to put our faith in the voters.
And once again, that faith has borne fruit! In the contested races we won both seats in 14 election districts, in 16 E.D.’s we won at least one of the seats and never did we lose both. The success of our slate of judicial delegates was reported in these pages two weeks ago: we won all eight delegates, defeating 16 opponents. We are proud of our efforts and are delighted to welcome some terrific new members to the club.
It is my sincere hope that the senseless feuds and petty rivalries that have haunted Village politics for so long may soon become a thing of the past. In this Sept. 13 primary only 15 percent of our fellow Democrats cast their vote. This statistic should frighten and energize anyone with a civic conscience. We at the V.I.D. extend an olive branch to all who seek to strengthen and move the Democratic Party forward, but never at the expense of our progressive and reform principles.
Stricklin is president, Village Independent Democrats
