These
days, Steve Minarik’s life can’t be easy.

Despite
clinging (barely) to a majority in the state Senate and to the governor’s
mansion, the Grand Old Party is in unstable condition statewide. And things are
likely to get worse; polls of almost every conceivable match-up show
Republicans ceding the governor’s position and failing to steal Hillary
Clinton’s Senate seat in 2006.

So
at the end of a hard day in Albany or New York, it must be
nice for the state GOP’s new chair to know that things here in MonroeCounty are being
taken care of for him. Not by Executive Director Mike Barry, whom Minarik left
in charge of day-to-day operations, though. No, the bulk of the work is being
done by the loyal opposition: Monroe County Democrats. Instead of carefully
marshaling their limited resources to fight for competitive county and town
positions, Democrats are funneling their money and effort into divisive primary
campaigns for the safe seats available to them.

Although
the Dems’ chair du jour, Joe Morelle,
has been in office for less than a month, he’s already embarked on a crusade to
reverse that situation. He’s running into resistance.

Two
weeks ago, Morelle said he plans to speak with every Democrat campaigning
against a party designee to try to dissuade them from running (see “Judge Not,”
June 15). But so far that hasn’t stopped plenty of people in the party — or
on its fringes — from embracing those contenders.

One
of those candidates is 29-year old Carrie Andrews, an organizer with the union
New York State United Teachers. In April, the party chose community activist
George Moses over Andrews to run for a County Lej seat in the city’s 21st
Legislative District. Now Andrews plans to challenge Moses in the September
primary election.

The
way Andrews sees it, Morelle’s party-discipline push is doing more than
creating a backlash; it’s robbing the Dems both of choices and younger
leadership.

As
Andrews points out, voter registration in the city and Brighton is
overwhelmingly Democratic. That means that — barring a huge upset by
Republicans — whoever’s on the party’s line in November will win. Squelch
primaries, says Andrews, and you’ll cut rank-and-file Dems out of the process.

“People
should be given an option,” she says.

This
is Andrews’ first run for public office, and she says she can’t understand why
party leaders would do anything to discourage young, enthusiastic candidates
like herself from getting involved politically.

“The
Democratic Party is in need of new people,” she says, “so I don’t think
stifling those new leaders or their campaigns is a good idea.”

And
that has led her to one conclusion: “I have no plans to withdraw from the race
whatsoever,” she says.

Among those
defying Morelle and supporting candidates like Andrews is DFA Rochester. The group’s
also supporting two more Democrats who are challenging party designees: County
Lej hopeful Mary Ellen Blanchard (in a Brighton primary against Travis Heider)
and mayoral candidate Tim Mains.

“DFA”
stands for “Democracy for America,” of which
DFA Rochester is an affiliate. But the acronym once stood for “Dean for America.” Yes, these are the
Deaniacs, the tech-savvy folks whose grassroots volunteer network and knack for
web fundraising made them the envy of other Democratic hopefuls. That movement
— or part of it, at least — survived the 2004 primaries and presidential
campaign, reincarnated as Democracy for America.

Andrea
DiGiorgio, one of the group’s organizers, describes DFA’s mission as “just to
slowly bring the political process back to the people, step by step.”

Since
these folks are the offspring of the current national party chair’s campaign,
you’d think they’d be a welcome addition to the local Democratic Party, as
chronically underfunded and overworked as it is. You might be wrong.

Speaking
on the record, both sides are vaguely complimentary of one another.

“We
may not see eye to eye on every candidate, but I think overall it’ll be a good
relationship,” says DiGiorgio. “I don’t think there needs to be any tension
there. We have the same goals of electing quality candidates who make a
difference.”

Morelle
offers a somewhat more tepid agreement.

“I
actually don’t know very much about Democracy for America,” he says.
“I’m sure we have many similar interests.”

But
talk to Dems off the record, and some express surprisingly strong emotions
about the group.

“They’re
15 strong, and they’ve got everyone intimidated, because that’s 10 more than
any other faction,” says one party insider speaking on condition of anonymity.”Everyone’s trying to curry favor with them.”

But
reactions go beyond being intimidated. Some in the party are angry that DFA
Rochester lent its approval to Chris Hilderbrant, a registered Green, but not
to Pat Amato, a Democrat running for the County Legislature seat of her
term-limited husband, Fred Amato. Some in the party compare the move to last
fall’s endorsement of Republican state Senator Joe Robach by several prominent
Dems.

Two
things DiGiorgio says about her group seem to undermine that comparison,
though.

“Democracy
for America isn’t a group
of Democrats,” she says, although most active members are. “We are looking for
candidates who are socially progressive.”

And
unlike other political groups, DFA offers two different categories of support:
full “endorsement” and “approval.” The group’s approval carries less weight,
and support, than an endorsement. It’s also a more flexible designation.

“There’s
absolutely nothing in our guidelines that prohibits us from approving more than
one candidate in a race,” she says.

So
what does a full endorsement from DFA get you?

“We
don’t have a lot of money,” says DiGiorgio. “It’s really a matter of time to
work on the campaign.”

That
time may be one reason Morelle’s content to leave DFA Rochester alone for the
time being. Beside Blanchard, the group’s other two fully endorsed candidates
are Ted O’Brien and Ted Nixon. They are running for County Legislature seats in
competitive districts in Irondequoit and Pittsford, respectively. With the
party strapped for cash, no party chair worth his salt is going to turn away
eager volunteers.

Whether
this détente will last after this year’s election cycle — or even survive it
— remains to be seen.

It
may be difficult to attract the willing volunteers DFA can offer, but it’s also
tough to spend limited resources well when you’re spending them against your
fellow partisans. It’s even tougher to attract money to those types of races.
Sure, some people will always give for strictly ideological reasons, but most
donors (especially the biggest spenders) want a return on their investment, in
the form of victories. They won’t see that in a party constantly fighting
itself, as Morelle is keenly aware.

“To
the extent that people contribute to factions, they contribute to our
difficulty to be competitive,” he says. “If you really want to be a party on a
county level that’s competitive, that involves sacrifice.”

Idealists
among the Dems may read that last statement as a threat to democratic processes
within the party. For them, Morelle has this response: “You can’t have any
influence over government if you can’t get elected to office.”

This article appears in Jun 29 – Jul 5, 2005.