47th Annual Phil Dinner a Glittering Success
DNC chair Dean Keynotes; Over 400 attend
This year’s Phil Hart Dinner was one of OCDP’s best yet, another evidence of the growing momentum of the Democratic Party in Oakland County. Photos and Video Highlights are available online.
Governor Howard Dean led a rally-like night of speeches from top Michigan Democratic political leaders Governor Jennifer Granholm, Lt. Governor John Cherry, Speaker of the Michigan House Andy Dillon, Michigan Democratic Party chair, Mark Brewer, and U.S. Representative Sander Levin.
Also in attendance were Oakland County’s State Senators Gilda Jacobs and Deb Cherry, State Representatives Aldo Vagnosi, Andy Meisner, and Marie Donigan, members of the Democratic Caucus of the Oakland County Commission, and a host of local officeholders including Mayors Brenda Lawrence of Southfield, Jim Ellison of Royal Oak, and Vickie Barnett of Farmington Hills.
Dean sounded every inch the Party’s chief strategist as he described a nationwide strategy being launched this November by the DNC that encourages all Democrats to volunteer to knock on 25 doors three times during the coming year and recruit two more people to do the same. The overall effect will be an America that is covered, even the rural areas, by the Democratic Party.
Translating that strategy to the 9th District and Rep. Joe Knollenberg, Dean said, “You can have a different Congressperson -- because you almost had one last time -- if you knock on every door in this district, and you will. Joe Knollenberg voted last week to cut 118,500 Michigan children off their health insurance. We deserve better, and you can have better, if you knock on 25 doors three times next year.”
Dean also described the growth the Democratic Party is gaining from among young people. Their voter turnout continues to rise, and 60% of them are voting Democratic. “They are your future,” Dean told the crowd.
Governor Granholm gave a rousing speech that tied together the attributes of being a Democrat and why she and our Democratic legislative partners in Lansing insist on investing in Michigan.
“I know we’ve done the right thing, she told listeners. We’ve set our state on the right footing by investing in the state. It’s a fight, and we draw the line, because that’s who we are.”
Granholm translated a quote from the Hebrew which she had heard earlier in the evening at Detroit’s Beth Yehuda Synagogue, the event was the largest sit-down gathering for Jews in the country. “The quote is, ‘Each person is a trustee for their fellow citizens.’ And really -- isn’t that what Democrats are all about? That we are not here to just be about ourselves?” [video]
U.S. Representative Sander Levin told the group, “Here are the issues: Iraq, global warming, stem cell research, income inequality, children’s health, civil liberties, the Supreme Court, jobs. If Phil Hart were with us today, he would have said, ‘On all of these issues, the President is wrong.’ To make the democratic process work again, we need to elect Democrats in ’08.”
Kary Moss, Executive Director of ACLU of Michigan, on accepting OCDP’s highest award of the year, The Tim Dinan Community Service Award, reminded the audience of the critical issues facing civil liberties in America. “We’ve got to stop warrantless surveillance. We’ve got to stop torture and rendition. We’ve got to close Guantanamo Bay.”
Spike, the well-known radio personality from the popular Mojo in the Morning Show on Channel 955, was master of ceremonies. Spike told the gathering he accepted OCDP’s invitation because he felt compelled to speak out against what has happened to America under President Bush’s administration.
Of Dean’s visit, OCDP Chair Dave Woodward said, “Governor Dean has come to Oakland to rally the Oakland County Democrats and energize the grassroots. It’s great having national support in our effort to elect Democratic leaders on the local, state and national level. Governor Dean’s commitment to rebuilding our party from the ground up has generated excitement in our party. We share the goals of the DNC to continue rebuilding the party, strengthening our majorities, and taking back the White House in 2008.”
The dinner is a premier regional event for Democrats. It honors the late U.S. Senator Phil Hart, admired as "The Conscience of the Senate." The event helps fund Democratic campaigns in Oakland County and the state of Michigan.
The event took place at Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills, Michigan.