This is a troubling quote from someone who is charged with supporting ALL Democratic candidates which Al Smith currently is:
Charles County Democratic Central Committee Chairwoman Virginia Benedict agreed with Wesbury’s comments on Smith’s decision to switch.
“He’s deceiving people,” Benedict said of Smith’s decision. “His philosophy is completely different from the Democratic philosophy.
“Our party is for all the people. If you can’t make it on your own … good luck.”
If a candidate like Smith is willing to do that in an election, what will happen once he is in office, Benedict asked. “[Smith] has to work hard as a Republican and run as a Republican and have the people in the general election decide who they want. He should run on his own merits,” rather than relying on a party switch.
a prominent page one article in today’s Independent in which Ms. Benedict calls out “wolves in sheeps’ clothing.”
“Democrats are a special breed.” Huh? Why’d Virginia say that? What does that mean? A “special breed” of what? Ignoramuses? Idiots? Stupidos? I can’t imagine why the Chairperson of the DCC would EVER make some statement such as this.
Didn’t see any statement from the Chair of the DCC when Vinnie absconded with Robinson’s campaign sign at their biggest function of the year, the Truman-Kennedy dinner (yeah, I’m still harping on this). Is that considered no big deal because the Vinster is a DCC member? So, can one extrapolate that if yer in the fold, yer good to go no matter what ya’ do, but, heaven forbid, if anyone new wants in unless vetted to be “special breeds?” SNORT!
The constant theme throughout this campaign has been many (with notable exceptions) members of the DCC NOT following its mission of supporting ALL democratic candidates. I’m glad to finally see this accurately quoted in the newspaper. This however is such inside baseball that it will have no impact one way or the other on the primary results.
I would be curious to see how Virginia feels about Candice Kelly. Since she made no comments about CQK’s candidacy, I will assume it is simply Al Smith that she has a problem with. Just to reiterate, Candice was a Democrat, then a Republican, then a Democrat, right?
As the Vice Chair of the CCDCC, once again I must express my dismay at not only a member of the committee - but the chair - allowing personal views and biases to affect her ability to stay on task. Our job is to support Democratic candidates. There is no “test” to take to join the Democratic party; I personally assume that those who change party affiliations do so with the best intentions and not with nefarious objectives. In any case, I don’t believe it’s our responsibility to judge and determine who is “allowed” to be a Democrat or even worse, judge who is a “good” Democrat.
While this attitude may make me unpopular with some of my fellow committee members, I must say that I will continue to support all of our Democratic candidates equally through the primary elections and beyond regardless of their history.
What I do in the voting booth is entirely my business. Neither Meredith Somers or any of her peers will ever know.
Then again, I don’t define myself solely by my party afiliation.
How in the heck did you get to be Vice Chair? Seems to me you and Ms Benedict are worlds apart. Do other committee members stay silent, hang their heads, and hope that this, too, will be forgotten?
I agree with Ken…I don’t think it much matters what Virginia has to say about “special breeds” or “sheep-in-wolf’s-clothing.” Probably nothing more than a tempest in a teapot except that it shows vulnerbility, and I wouldn’t think any political entity would want to show a crack in the armour as elections near.
<The constant theme throughout this campaign has been many (with notable exceptions) members of the DCC NOT following its mission of supporting ALL democratic candidates. I’m glad to finally see this accurately quoted in the newspaper. This however is such inside baseball that it will have no impact one way or the other on the primary results. >
As Francis knows the other team hasn’t done much better. In fact they need to get their own house in order.
How in the heck did you get to be Vice Chair? Seems to me you and Ms Benedict are worlds apart. Do other committee members stay silent, hang their heads, and hope that this, too, will be forgotten?
I agree with Ken…I don’t think it much matters what Virginia has to say about “special breeds” or “sheep-in-wolf’s-clothing.” Probably nothing more than a tempest in a teapot except that it shows vulnerbility, and I wouldn’t think any political entity would want to show a crack in the armour as elections near.
How in the heck, indeed.
I had a vision of helping to make the committee a more viable, engaged and influential body. I still do. The way I look at it is that there are many people in the county - and even in the country - who have changed their party affiliation from (R) to (D). There are also some who went the other way. As I mentioned a couple of days/weeks ago, I did as well, based on a fit of pique that forced me to re-evaluate and realign with a party that more closely approximated my own values. I choose to think that others do the same. They’re not gaming the system. In the county, these people are running on their names and some on previous records. I think it’s disingenuous at best and insulting at worst to make a public statement that effectively says “voters are stupid.”
I am not alone in my dismay over this most recent incident.
It seems to me that the outcome of the most important contests this year will be determined in the Democratic primary, not the general election. There just aren’t that many Republicans running against each other in the primary.
I wish we had open primaries as they do in Virginia, but since we don’t, in my opinion, it’s worth considering a change to party affiliation to make sure the best candidates get through to the general election. Support who you want, contribute to who you want, pick the primary you want to vote in, and vote for who you want. It’s just a mail-in form.
Well said Good Grief. It is not the optimum situation but it is the cards we currently hold in Charles County. Our campaign has registered or re-registered more than 400 people so they can vote in the Democratic Primary. They can obviously vote for anyone in the general election but without participating in the primary, the candidates they would like to see elected may not be on the November ballot.
The deadline is August 24 for registering or changing party affiliation.
Great letter to the editor in today’s Indy from three members of the Democratic Central Committee. Nice to see someone finally accurately state what the DCC’s mission is as opposed to what we have seen publicly for the past several months.
No response expected, Ken. Sometimes, even the goofballs realize when less is more and it’s better to just shut-up. Hey, isn’t Shanar the dude who pointed out that you weren’t a god person? Didn’t get any response to that, either.
Seems to me you and Ms Benedict are worlds apart. Do other committee members stay silent, hang their heads, and hope that this, too, will be forgotten?
