May 13, 2004

Delegate Benning bound for Boston

Jenny Cowperthwaite Ruka has been involved with the Little Art Theatre since she was 15, and in 1998, she purchased the movie theater.

Yellow Springs resident Deborah Benning has been selected to serve as a delegate for John Kerry at the Democratic National Convention in Boston this summer.

This means Benning will have the chance to vote on the Democratic Party’s platform, read loads of position papers and help nominate Kerry, a U.S. senator from Massachusetts, as the Democrat’s presidential candidate.

Benning said this is a “once in a lifetime” opportunity to represent her congressional district at what she called the “granddaddy” event of politics. “I really want to see the mechanics of a campaign on that level,” she said during an interview.

Her grandchildren, she said, have already told her that they hope to “spot me on TV.”

A registered Democrat, Benning will join another 4,318 delegates at the convention, which will be held from July 26 to July 29. According to information from the Ohio Democratic Party, Ohio has 159 delegates and 24 alternative delegates. Benning will be a delegate for Kerry and will represent the 7th Congressional District, which includes Greene, Clark, Fairfield, Fayette, Franklin, Perry, Pickaway and Ross Counties. Benning is one of three Kerry delegates from the district.

Kerry won the 7th District in Ohio’s March primary with 52 percent. His closest rival was Senator John Edwards of North Carolina with 39 percent. Kerry also won Ohio.

Benning volunteered last year to be a delegate when she responded to a letter from the Democratic Party asking her to help with the election campaign. She sent the letter in, then didn’t think about it over the winter. At the end of April, Benning received letters from the Ohio Democratic Party and the Kerry campaign notifying her that she was selected to be a delegate.

At the convention, Benning will be busy. She must attend numerous meetings and at least one dinner for the Ohio Democratic Party. Delegates vote on the party’s platform and issue formal votes for the presidential and vice presidential candidates. “You’re polled constantly for your opinion,” she said.

Delegates also have homework to do. Benning said that Kerry has written 20 position papers and she intends to digest all of them. “I think it’s important, if you represent the district, you have to understand what the man stands for,” she said.

Benning said that she supports Kerry because of his positions on the issues she cares about most: health care, the cost of prescription drugs, the environment and other domestic, or what she called “humanistic,” issues. “I think he has some really well-thought out, well-developed plans to address some of these domestic issues,” Benning said.

For instance, according to Benning, Kerry wants to allow people to purchase prescription drugs from Mexico and Canada and allow Medicaid to negotiate drug prices for those who qualify for assistance.

“How are we helping people in this country to be healthy and live productive lives if we don’t give them access to health care?” asked Benning, who has two daughters and two grandchildren.

Though she’s more interested in domestic issues, Benning said that she also likes that Kerry is a veteran who served in the Vietnam War.

Benning is not new to politics. She served on Village Council for six years in the 1990s and since 1999 has been the clerk of Council, though the position is not political. She volunteered with the Clinton campaign in 1992 and ’96, “going door to door, handing out literature, stuff. The grub work.”

Since she was hired as the clerk of Council five years ago, Benning said, she has not been active in local politics, because, she said, she “didn’t want to been seen as taking sides on issues.” But now that she’s been on the job for a while, she said, she feels it’s acceptable for her to get involved in the 2004 campaign on a national level.

Though Benning is excited to go to the convention, it is safe to say she is not excited about the price tag. She estimates it will cost between $2,000 and $2,500 for airfare, hotel accommodations and food. “I’m a working person,” she said.

To defray the costs of the trip, Benning will raise funds, though she does not have definitive plans yet. Those who are interested in helping her attend the convention, may contact her at home, 334 Elm Street.

—Robert Mihalek