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Politicians on parade

Takoma’s 4th crackles with the sounds of campaigning

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Click here to enlarge this photo Zaid Hamid⁄Special to The Gazette Jeffrey Silverstone, one of Takoma Park’s July 4 parade organizers, marches in the parade dressed as Uncle Sam. Click here to enlarge this photo Zaid Hamid⁄Special to The Gazette Members of the Indonesian Relief Organization give thanks to residents of Takoma Park for tsunami relief efforts during the July 4 parade. Click here to enlarge this photo Zaid Hamid⁄Special to The Gazette Iris Montgomery, 19 months, of Takoma Park watches the parade go by while clutching an American flag.

It was a slightly more persistent group of visitors who wanted to grab center stage.

‘‘All these politicians ... I have no idea who a lot of them are,” Carolyn Brown of Silver Spring said of the barrage of campaign stickers, balloons and cardboard fans decorated with the bold-faced names of would-be officials and those up for reelection.

It wasn’t unusual to see children at the parade decked out with campaign balloons of several different bright colors. One pig-tailed toddler had a green balloon tied to her wrist for Steve Silverman, who is running for Montgomery County Executive, and a teal balloon tied to her stroller handle for Ike Leggett, his opponent, all the while reaching for a bundle of red and blue balloons being passed out to the crowd.

The toddler wasn’t reaching for a clown or a parade organizer. It was Team Raskin.

Raskin is running for the District 20 Senate seat against Democratic incumbent Ida G. Ruben, who rode a classic Ford Thunderbird during the procession of participants and had supporters man a stand near the far end of the parade with balloons of her own.

Raskin called his appearance at the event a ‘‘showing of Takoma Park patriotism.”

Besides balloons, his supporters also passed out flower ‘‘seeds of change” and coupons for free ice-cream at Summer Delights in Old Town Takoma Park for a cone of a new flavor that day, ‘‘Askin’ for Raskin.”

The strawberry-chocolate chunk-and-cookies ice cream helped win him at least some fans among the younger crowd.

‘‘Let’s just say we never saw the parade,” said Summer Delights owner Greg Moorin, a friend of Raskin, of how busy the shop was once coupon-holders started piling in.

Moorin was commissioned by Raskin to hold the event as part of a ‘‘real grassroots effort to get people’s attention,” he said.

‘‘As most people would tell you, there’s nothing wrong with Ida Ruben, and there’s nothing wrong with Jamie,” Moorin said. ‘‘Putting up that kind of money for this ... I hope it works out.”

Community events like the parade are opportunities for politicians up for re-election or for those looking for their first taste of elected office. Everybody who’s anybody comes to the big events, and while many parade-goers come from outside of Takoma Park and its district, sometimes it’s all about name recognition.

‘‘It’s a good opportunity to meet people you don’t necessarily have access to, and to meet people and their families,” said Duchy Trachtenberg, a Democrat running for an at-large seat on the Montgomery County Council and president of Maryland NOW.

Trachtenberg’s parade tactic also included balloons, these in her trademark purple, a color representing women’s rights and the Inner Purple Line.

‘‘We didn’t have any trouble passing those out to the little girls,” she said. ‘‘We could have easily used a few more (helium) tanks.”

Ike Leggett’s teal balloons were all over the county that day, from fireworks displays to neighborhood picnics. But it’s more about fitting community events like a parade into a ‘‘mosaic” of getting volunteers organized and meeting people. Leggett’s volunteers attended more than 20 events on the Fourth of July.

‘‘It can become political overload,” Leggett said of a parade-type situation, where people are inundated with campaign literature, stickers and balloons. ‘‘That kind of environment won’t do it when it comes to the efficiency of the campaign.”

Takoma Park residents aren’t shy, either, about letting their opinions be known on issues relevant to political campaigns. The much-debated Intercounty Connector highway, for instance, was the muse behind one of the parade’s standouts. A group opposed to the ICC walked through Old Town wearing bright orange traffic cones on their heads, with one leading a make-shift sheep on a leash that proclaimed, ‘‘ICC is baaaaad.”

Takoma Park City for Peace Committee members held up signs that read: ‘‘Lies, lies, lies, from Baghdad to the Bayou” in protest of failings in the Bush administration and the ongoing war in Iraq.

The very last participant in the parade, whether official or unofficial, was a man in a raggedy hat, riding a bicycle and holding up a poster that read: ‘‘Bush lied.”

‘‘The weird local stuff... we need to see more of that,” Takoma Park resident Eric Lindblom said.