Farm brings community activism to Tusten

By CHARLIE BUTERBAUGH

NARROWSBURG, NY — The grassroots political movement behind Howard Dean arrived in the Town of Tusten on Saturday, August 23 when Andrea Reynosa of SkyDog Farm hosted a fundraiser, one among hundreds in the nation during Dean’s Sleepless Summer Tour.

Dean, a physician and the governor of Vermont from 1992 to 2003, is running for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States. He has voiced commitment to balancing the national budget and extending health insurance to children and adults, and he opposes George W. Bush’s doctrine of pre-emptive military strikes.

At the fundraiser, civil rights lawyer Michael Sussman of Orange County’s Democratic Alliance spoke about the challenges Dean will face, and he compared Dean’s political battle to Jimmy Carter’s when the Democratic Party was failing to exhibit a firm, identifiable agenda.

Sussman affirmed the Democratic raison d’être, saying, “We believe people need politics to help them.” He expressed concern for a lack of Democratic unity in the present party and stressed that voters may need to concede some of their differences with Dean’s ideas in order to “get a politician we can work with.”

He argued that urban living conditions for Hispanics and African-Americans are worse than 25 years ago, and in reference to the war in Iraq, he said, “Never has more been at stake in the world.”

SkyDog Farm was able to raise over $2,300 for Dean’s campaign. In next week’s issue, look for an article about community activism that will include an interview with Reynosa.