Buncombe County Democrats Begin a New Era

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By acclamation Buncombe County Democrats elected Kathy Sinclair to be their Party Chair for a two-year term. Former candidate for state legislature, Doug Jones, was unanimously selected to be First Vice Chair. Chris Caldwell, Kyle Cogburn, Jennifer Thacker, and Ed Hay were tapped for 2nd Vice, 3rd Vice, Secretary, and Treasurer. The selection of this slate of centrists heralds a new beginning for a county party long dominated by an aristocratic Old Guard.

Unity was the theme at the annual convention, held today at the Buncombe County Courthouse. 210 delegates attended the event, and almost all of the county's elected Democrats sat together to witness the turning of the tide. Senator Martin Nesbitt, Representative Susan Fisher, Commissioner David Gantt, District Attorney Ron Moore, and Congressman Shuler spoke briefly, and their enthusiasm was contagious. D.A. Moore gave a shoutout to the Army of Mumpower Culture Jamming, and this Hooligan waved Councilman Mumpower's face in the air to smiles from the assembled.

Progressive Dems, long suffering and excluded, now have a seat at the table in Buncombe County Democratic Party politics. New Chair Kathy Sinclair, elevated from the Secretary position, recognized the efforts of former candidate for Chair, Randy Flack, who withdrew after learning that he would not be allowed to work for Shuler and serve as Chair. Sinclair received three rousing rounds of applause from the convention and took over the meeting with confidence.

You can check Buncombe County Dems website in the next several days to read which resolutions were adopted. This Hooligan authored a resolution, read from the floor, that states the Chair will communicate with the governor regarding Secretary Hooker Odom's capricious, ruinous decision to decimate the mental health system. The resolution was passed by acclamation (w00t!).

Here's to the Old Guard, with all their history and money, for seeing the writing on the wall. Here's to the Progressive community, for coming out of the cold and into the hard work of helping to run the Party. And here's to the rest of us - the peripheral Dems who always vote Blue but don't have the patience for interminable meetings - for paying attention and applying pressure to the Party's wounds.

Buncombe County Democrats march into the 2008 elections unified as never before. Under the leadership of Kathy Sinclair, we can expect our county party to be more energized, more vocal, better organized, and more fun than we could have imagined.