Cuyahoga Young Dems in the pipeline

Although I am far from a "young" Dem, I stopped in at the Cuyahoga County Young Democrats meeting tonight at La Boca, a Hispanic-flavored restaurant in Cleveland's Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood. I ran into CCYD president Curtis Thompson last Saturday and he invited me to come, so heck, why not?

First of all, I was extremely impressed with the turnout. I'd guess there were 50-60 people there, filling La Boca's large room on a nasty, blustery evening. (Luckily, the restaurant provided some very nice, hearty hors d'oeuvres). Attendees included three Cleveland councilmen (Terrell Pruitt, Zack Reed and Eugene Miller) in addition to the evening's speaker, Detroit-Shoreway councilman Matt Zone. Judge Bridget McCafferty was also there, getting some early politicking in.

Another thing that impressed me was how mixed the crowd was: a balance of men and women, almost half black despite being on "the other" side of town, a sprinkling of Hispanics. I thought it was interesting that three black councilmen made their way across the river, a good sign if we're ever going to bridge divides and work together.

There were brief pep talks from local Organizing for America rep David Cooke and area field rep for the Ohio Democratic Party Michael Ruff before Zone talked. He spoke about how he got involved in politics, working as a ward leader for Jay Westbrook and then, after moving into the Detroit-Shoreway ward, running for council himself in order to have a greater impact in the direction of the neighborhood. He talked about the rejuvenation of the very area we were in, anchored by arts and culture groups Cleveland Public Theatre, the Near West Theatre and the newly re-opened movie house, the Capitol Theatre, through new housing and government money seeding private investment.

He also talked about his particular passion for sustainability and how he was one of two local officials selected to testify next week in Copenhagen at Climate Conference there. He urged the group to find something they are passionate about and to pursue it with total commitment.

In light of recent discussions about reviving the county party, it's clear that to do so we'll need to combine the best of the old guard with new blood and fresh ideas. The numer of younger Democrats eager to have a discussion about getting engaged is a hopeful sign.