Democrats to host rally at Moncrief Park
September 29, 2012
By NATHAN GREGORY
citybeat@starkvilledailynews.com
The Oktibbeha County Democratic Executive Committee will host a rally beginning 3 p.m. today at Moncrief Park.
Albert N. Gore, who is running for United States Senate in November against incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, will be the featured speaker.
OCDEC Chair Chris Taylor said the event gives Democrats an opportunity to meet with each other and discuss issues in need of being addressed and goals to reach for the party going forward. He said he also wants to help get people registered to vote.
“We’re going to make people aware of the redistricting going on in Oktibbeha County, which has affected about 2,600 addresses,” Taylor said. “We need to make sure these voters are informed of where they’re supposed to vote.”
OCDEC Vice Chair and President of the Oktibbeha County Federation of Democratic Women Nina Pe
ele said she’s looking forward to Gore’s appearance.
“We’re always excited to have Mr. Gore. He is not only a good motivator but very progressive, and he really is a wonderful example of what a leader should be,” Peele said.
Patti Drapala, OCDEC assistant secretary, said the committee wanted to hold a special event after the Democratic National Convention to celebrate the party’s heritage and make a push for the election of Democratic candidates and the re-election of U.S. President Barack Obama.
“We’ll have a voter registration table for anybody not registered to vote,” Drapala said. “This has been met with a lot of enthusiasm from young people. Many times I’ll ask a college-age person (if they’re) registered to vote, and they say ‘Yes, I am.’ It’s really refreshing to have that kind of a response. We know there are voters of all ages who are not registered and we’d like to encourage them to register so they can exercise their right.”
Peele said the rally will also celebrate past contributors to OCDEC and their efforts.
“We wanted to try to encourage some of our friends of the Democratic party that have contributed for years and have been long-time community activists,” Peele said. “We want to honor them and we hope they can come join us.”
