As he watches the fur fly on the Republican side of the political aisle, county Democratic chairman Bruce Beardsley has a thought.

Maybe this is the year county voters get fed up and give Democrats a chance to run the courthouse.

Beardsley has his own concerns to manage with the upcoming Democratic endorsement convention, which will be Saturday. But it's unlikely the Democrats will get as contentious as the Republicans have turned in the closing days of the race for endorsement.

The county's outgunned Democrats have always been able to count on winning a seat on the board of county commissioners, since state law reserves one of the three seats for a representative of a minority party.

With incumbent Democrat Ron Ford stepping down this year, the open seat has drawn three Democrats into the primary race. But the party only needs two.

In 1995, the last time there was an open seat on the board, hard feelings persisted after a rough primary campaign. This year, the Democrats are attempting to circumvent that; a screening committee recommended that all three commissioner candidates be endorsed.

Beardsley thinks eventually, the full committee will agree. But there's a possibility that some committee members will challenge the recommendation.

"I think in the end, the committee will recognize that all three candidates are well-qualified," Beardsley said, "and the best thing to do is let the rank-and-file Democratic voters make the choice.

" ... That's the small-d democratic thing to do.'

The good news so far, Beardsley said, is that all three candidates - Bill Saylor, Molly Henderson and Jon Price - have agreed to accept a three-way endorsement.

Not everyone agrees; Ford, for instance, is honorary chairman of both the Henderson and Price campaigns, saying those two give the Democrats the best chance of winning a majority in the courthouse.

At Saturday's convention, the Democrats also will be voting on bylaw amendments and filling out a slate for row office nominations - those countywide seats are GOP territory, and it's not easy to convince Democrats to run in the face of overwhelming odds.

Beardsley said the party will likely make an announcement on the row office ticket early this week.

The bylaw amendments were accepted by the party's executive committee, but they still could generate some debate at the convention.

Some of the most significant changes involve shifting power from the county chairman to the executive committee, chartering the various Democratic clubs throughout the county and setting up a procedure for removing the county chairman, district leaders or committee members.

As the bylaws stand, the party has no way of getting rid of a problem.

Also on Saturday morning, city Democrats will convene to endorse candidates for city council and school board.

The three Democratic council incumbents - Nelson Polite Sr., Julianne Dickson and John Graupera - announced last week that they are asking for committee support to run for second terms, which should lessen the likelihood of a contested primary.

Democrats can't gain any ground on the Republicans in this year's council race, since only the Democrats' three seats are up. But if they hold those three, the Democrats, who have a registration plurality in the city, would be in position to try to regain control of council in the '05 election.

Republicans now have a 4-3 edge.

The GOP also has a 2-1 edge in the courthouse. Will that continue to hold?

Considering all the charges and counter-charges flying in the Republican commissioner race (see the related stories on Page One), Beardsley has a glimmer of hope.

'It seems like they don't trust one another,' he mused. 'If Republicans can't trust other Republicans, how do they expect the people to trust them?'

Four of the seven GOP candidates have charged that incumbent Republican Pete Shaub tried to convince them to drop out of the race and throw their support to Shaub's preferred running mate, Dick Shellenberger. One, Steve McDonald, says Shaub offered him the county administrator's job if he backed out. Shaub has denied the allegations.

'The question is,' Beardsley said, 'will the people of this county finally say "Enough is enough' and give someone else a chance?

'We have candidates who all are well-qualified - and honest.'

* Apropos of the increasingly contentious Republican endorsement process, PoliticsPA.com awarded the county GOP a down arrow in its weekly 'Up & Down' feature 'as the race for county commissioner becomes ugly. With anonymous letters, heavy-handed pressure and job threats, all the candidates are losers. Those less-than-classy candidates include: Pete Shaub, Steve McDonald, Jim Huber, Susan Bernhardt and Scott Martin.'

Ouch. The Web site forgot a couple of candidates: Dick Shellenberger and Dennis Stuckey. Or maybe, considering the context, they'd rather be forgotten.


New choice for voice

It's been a tough endorsement season for Republican judge candidate Heidi Eakin. The county's first assistant district attorney has been battling a bug for a couple of weeks; by the last straw poll on Thursday in Ephrata Township, she had lost her voice entirely.

One of her supporters, Jeff Conrad, had to deliver her speech to the Ephrata, Elanco and Cocalico area committees. (He did a boffo job, we're told.)

The final straw poll, by the way, was held at the Ephrata Township municipal building, and the host Ephrata Area GOP laid on a nice spread of cookies and three kinds of coffee for committee members and candidates.

And a stray reporter.

What's next?

Here's some tantalizing tidbits that should make county politicos wonder anew what former legislator John Barley is up to with his Progressive Candidates PAC.

That's the political action committee that Barley set up after folding his old campaign committee, Friends of John Barley, and transferring the balance of the Friends account into the new entity.

In the year-end reports, covering the last two months of 2002, Progressive Candidates PAC started with $162,536, got $54 in interest from Fulton Bank, spent $9,032 and ended the year with $153,558.

The report says Progressive Candidates paid $1,673 to Fulton Bank for 'PAC-related travel//meals,' $6,300 to data consultant Keith Miner of Harrisburg and $1,059 to Staples for computer equipment.

Figuring out what Barley is doing with his campaign money is one of local politicians' favorite parlor games.

Delegation doings

Roy Baldwin's not getting a Dell - he's getting a dish.

The new 97th District state legislator last week blasted Comcast Cable's latest price increase - an annual rite of spring for the cable company - and said that since there's now an alternative, he is switching from cable to a satellite dish.

'Now that local channels are available on the Dish Network, we finally have a real alternative to Comcast,' Baldwin said in a statement. 'Supporting free enterprise system, I would encourage people to look at all the options and make their own decisions as to what's best for their family or situation.'

* And 43rd District lawmaker Scott Boyd has announced satellite office hours in the district. Starting this week: Upper Leacock Township Building, 36 Hillcrest Ave., Leola, alternate Tuesdays, 12:30-4:30 p.m.; West Earl Township Building, 157 W. Metzler Road, Brownstown, alternate Wednesdays, 12:30-4 p.m.; and Akron Borough Hall, 117 S. Seventh St., alternate Thursdays, 12:30-4:30 p.m.

Satellite hours that start next week are: Pequea Township Building, 1028 Millwood Road, Willow Street, alternate Wednesdays, 12:30-4:30 p.m.; and Millersville Borough Hall, 10 Colonial Ave., alternate Thursdays, 12:30-4:30 p.m. For information, contact Boyd's district office, 464-5285.

We hear that Boyd's district office 'art gallery' was a big hit at his open house last weekend. The district office in Greenfield Corporate Center includes artwork contributed by some 50 public, private and home school students in the 43rd District.

Candidates wanted, again

* The Denver Borough Republican committee is still looking for borough council candidates. Anyone interested in running should contact Republican committee members Nancie Read, 335-3511, or Daniel Foltz, 336-1025, by Feb. 19.

* And the Millersville Republican Committee needs candidates for borough council, constable and the GOP committee. Registered Republicans should send resumes to the committee in care of Ruth Feller, 50 W. Charlotte St., Millersville, Pa. 17551.

Political potpourri

Thursday night at the regional straw poll, Elanco GOP committeeman Chuck Trupe was passing out fliers for Elanco's April 5 breakfast featuring 'the next U.S. senator from Pennsylvania' - Pat Toomey. The Lehigh Valley congressman is considering a primary challenge to U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, who is not exactly beloved by social conservatives like Trupe.

This will be Toomey's third visit to the county in the last few months. Expect to see a lot more of him before next year's primary. And if you'd like to see him at Elanco (at 8:30 a.m.; tickets are $20 a person or $10 for high school students), make checks payable to the Elanco Republican Committee and mail to Stephanie Shirk, 1645 Silver Valley Road, East Earl, Pa. 17519.

* PoliticsPA.com has named Marilyn Ware of Strasburg to its list of the most politically powerful women in Pennsylvania. The 'GOP major donor and fund-raiser helped to elect Tom Ridge governor in 1994,' the site says, adding that Ware, chairwoman of American Water Works Co., 'was recently appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as a member of the National Infrastructure Advisory Committee.'

Helen Colwell Adams is an editor of the Sunday News Perspective section. E-mail her at hcolwell@lnpnews.com, or phone 291-4962.