Connecticut Democrats Coming Up With New Names for Dinner

Before the vote, Democratic state chair Nick Balletto said the party should change the name of the dinner because of a shooting in South Carolina in June.

On Wednesday, Democratic Party leaders in Connecticut unanimously voted to remove the names of two former U.S. presidents from the name of its annual fundraising dinner under pressure from the NAACP.

This week, neighboring Georgia and Connecticut both removed the Jefferson and Jackson names from their fund-raising dinners. State Sen. Clementa Pinckney, D-Jasper, was one of the nine victims.

No new name was adopted, but Democrats said they would accept suggestions before making their final decision in September or October, according to the Hartford Courant. Neil Vigdor said the decision “is believed to be unprecedented” and could prompt Democrats in other states to follow suit. Under Barack Obama’s leadership, race relations are in the tank, as The New York Times reports about 60% of Americans think race relations are generally poor – down from the two-thirds of Americans who thought race relations were good when Obama first entered office.

The annual summer fundraiser, which celebrated its 67 year last month, also includes the name of former state and national Democratic chairman John Bailey. “I wasn’t looking to be a trailblazer or set off a trend that’s going to affect the rest of the country”.

But not everyone was pleased with the politically correct move.

“The authors of that amendment purposely chose language drafted by Jefferson in an unsuccessful effort to outlaw slavery in the Northwest Territories as a means of honoring Jefferson’s struggle against slavery”, Turner said. He noted the national Democratic Party historically supported slavery.