Fresh Loaf

The Jan. 30 Georgia Democrats’ Jefferson-Jackson Dinner at the World Congress Center was, well, predictable. Congressman John Lewis was honored, and brought along U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee.

And former Sen. Max Cleland was honored. With a pointed quip at Republicans — especially Saxby Chambliss, the military evader who hoisted war hero Cleland’s picture up alongside Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden to win the Senate seat – Cleland noted that “not all enemies of democracy are from foreign countries.”

But if there was a surprise, it was the average age of the crowd. In past years youth attended, but in relatively small numbers. Not so this year, where the average age plunged a decade or so.

One group of college women – calling themselves “Hillary’s Green Team” – labored for their candidate. They’ve been helped along by City Councilmember Kwanza Hall. “Our goal is to reach out to young women,” said Erin O’Neil, 26, (no surprise) from Boston. She’s now a grad student at Georgia State. Despite all of the excitement, she was a little perplexed at the paradigm shift from Massachusetts to Georgia.

“People who run here as Democrats could run in Boston as Republicans,” she said.

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