 Robert Barnette, HDC chairman, was interviewed by the Herald Progress to discuss the status of the Hanover Democratic Committee and its focus as the general election quickly approaches. Read below:
"The Chairman of the HDC is Robert Barnette. Barnette has been chairman since December and believes the best hope for the Democrats in Hanover is to reach out to the independent voters.
"Hanover tends to vote strong Republican, but there are a lot of independents," said Barnette. "In the last primary alone we saw over 11,000 votes for Obama and 10,000 for McCain. If it was true that Hanover is heavily Republican, I don't think that would be the case.
"I think there are more independents in Hanover and our goal is to reach those independents by providing quality candidates who tend to have views that independents like. Whether you label yourself Republican or Democrat, in Hanover we have more in common than we have differences. That's where I see the Hanover Democratic Committee really making a difference. "We have a great lineup of people to offer people the Democratic message. Our biggest role is to get the message out by organizing at the local level. We have great leadership in Governor Kaine who is the chair of the Virginia committee. We have great candidates running in this election. We have Mark Warner running for Senate and Anita Hartke running for the congressional seat against Eric Cantor and of course Senator Obama for President."
Barnette went on to discuss the local candidates. "Anita is not well known. Her father served in the Congress in Indiana. She lives in the Culpepper area and is the chair of the Culpepper Democratic Committee. She has been actively campaigning in Hanover. She knows it is difficult to get her message out when you are in the incumbent's territory; it is going to take her some time but she will get her message out.
"The Warner campaign has made an effort to make sure they have a presence in the area. They are relying on us to feed back any opportunities we think they should be at. For example we are encouraging them to be at the Tomato Festival and things like that. So when they are doing their campaign strategizing they know where the bigger events are. Warner is really good at these type events; he is good at meeting people, talking to people, and he is an all around good guy."
The emerging leaders in the Democratic Party are very young. This is very helpful when they are trying to get the message out. "We don't have a problem getting volunteers for Obama at Randolph-Macon, for example," said Barnette. "The young folks are there and they know Obama and believe in him. Mark Warner also has name recognition and can attract the younger voters.
"This is the group that we have the most volunteers helping to get the message out. This year we were very successful in establishing a Young Democrats Committee at Lee-Davis High School. We have contacted the other schools in Hanover and there really seems to be an interest in starting this up in all the high schools.
"We have about 150-200 people," continued Barnette. "We meet each month on the first Saturday of the month at 9 a.m. at the Ashland Coffee and Tea. The number one thing we are doing is canvassing, knocking on doors, and getting the candidates message out there. We can make sure people know there is a difference this time. There is a clear difference in all the elections this time.
"Since I have been involved we have seen the membership grow. There was a time when Democrats in Hanover did not want to be identified. I don't see that today. I see people saying yeah I don't mind being a registered Democrat and working for the Democrat Committee.
"More people are moving to Hanover who don't know how it used to be. What we are doing is saying this is what we believe in and if you so choose you are welcome to come aboard. This is where we are seeing more growth, not so much from people who have been here for 20-plus years, but from people who have moved here in the last five years or so. These are the folks who are really working in our committee and really reaching out for us."
"I think the key message is attracting candidates that are more alike than different, and that's one of the things we plan to continue to do," said Barnette. "Also another thing we are doing is planning on having a few forums on topics that people are interested in like work-force housing for example.
"We are also looking at transportation. We see this as one of the areas we need to improve. If you live in Mechanicsville, like I do, that's gridlock city on certain roads. Like Pole Green Road, you don't want to go down that road certain times of the day. We want to help provide alternative solutions like high-speed rail and things like that.
"We want to be able to link Mechanicsville with other forms of transportation rather than having people get in their car to go to the mall. I have been to several cities that you can get on some form of monorail system that will take you to certain key places. I think we need to look at this option.
"The third big thing we are concerned about is healthcare. Too many people have to decide whether to buy their medications or buy food. The drug companies have just gotten too big and are not amenable to lowering the prices on drugs.
"Of course the number one issue these days is gas prices. This is affecting everything, including the rise in food prices.
"We believe, number one, in good government, fair government, we believe in good education, we believe that folks who have given their time and service to the county should be recognized and given the chance to serve in leadership positions," concluded Barnette.
In order to get involved with the HDC check out their Web site: www.hvadems.com .
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