Democrats say bye-bye to benefit’s name

Spokane County Democrats seem to be turning their backs on their history, or at least their tradition, renaming their annual fundraiser to bump two prominent party fathers from the billing.

Say goodbye to the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner – as in Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson – and hello to the Democratic Legacy Dinner on May 19.

The new name is more culturally sensitive and inclusive, County Chairwoman Kristine Reeves said. “We think the new name better conveys the values of the party.”

Of course, one could argue that there would be no Democratic legacy without Jefferson and Jackson.

Jefferson essentially founded the party, although back in the day it was called the Democratic-Republican Party. You could say he founded the nation and shaped the country, too, but this is about partisan business.

Andrew Jackson turned a portion of Jefferson’s party into what folks today might recognize as a national political party, opening up the electoral process to the average man.

Well, the average white man, anyway.

And therein lies the rub.

Jefferson, as most folks remember from junior high American History, owned slaves. It’s pretty easy to argue that everyone he knew in the neighborhood owned slaves, too. But as Mom used to say, “If everyone you know jumped in the lake, would that make it OK for you to jump in the lake?”

Nooo.

Jackson is not on the list of Native Americans’ favorite presidents, having led a war against the Seminoles as a general. As president, he forced the Cherokees and other tribes across the Mississippi River, often at gunpoint, and the nation routinely reneged on offers of assistance.

The question is whether Jefferson’s and Jackson’s contributions to the country, the political process and the party outweigh their shortcomings viewed through a 21st-century lens. The Spokane County Democrats say they don’t.

Fortunately for the Republicans, there is no similar sentiment to rename their annual Lincoln Day Dinner because of Abe’s lack of a position on abortion, stem cell research or immigration controls.

An early start

Potential candidates still are weighing their chances for the 2007 municipal elections, but one candidate already has jumped into the 2008 campaigns.

Bill Burke filed paperwork with the Public Disclosure Commission to run for Spokane County Commissioner next year. He’s hoping his third time out for this spot will be the charm.

Burke said he had to file under the state law that says a candidate has 14 days from whenever he announces his candidacy. He’d told some friends he planned to run, and that constituted an announcement.

One problem with being early, though: When the PDC sent him back the calendar for filing his reports, it was for this year. They don’t have next year’s printed up yet.

The kick is up…

Back to this year’s campaign: Mayor Dennis Hession held his campaign kickoff fundraiser on Thursday at the Spokane Convention Center.

That may seem a bit odd to those of you who thought hizzoner has been campaigning for some months now. What was all the other stuff, pregame warm-ups?

But First Lady Jane Hession, who also is a campaign spokeswoman, said that while the mayor had been campaigning for a while, he had not held a formally scheduled fundraiser. Thus he is kicking off his fundraising, not his campaign.

That may come as a surprise to the Spokane Labor Council, which sent out a copy of the invitation to Thursday’s events via e-mail to members. That wasn’t an endorsement, the council said, and they’d do the same for other candidates for “similar events that are NOT fundraisers.”

So how is this not – or more precisely, NOT – a fundraiser?

Beth Thew, secretary treasurer for the Labor Council, said she didn’t think the event was a fundraiser, at least for union members, because they didn’t have to pay for a ticket to the breakfast. A “host committee” was covering those costs, she said.

“I’m not so naïve as to think that someone, somewhere along the line, isn’t going to say ‘If you want to give …” Thew said. “But there’s no suggested donation, no suggested anything.”

Maybe that satisfies the council’s definition. But everything we got from Hession called it a fundraiser.