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Citizens work to take their country back

By ERNEST HOOPER
Published May 30, 2006

	[Times photo: Daniel Wallace]
	Neighbors Megan Foster, center, and Francine Simmons, right, organized a house party for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rod Smith, left, at the Simmons home, where more than 100 people showed up. Democratic candidate packs a house party full

Francine Simmons and Megan Foster could have been at the beach on Monday.

The two Northwest Hillsborough neighbors could have capped off a weekend with little thought about the symbolism of Memorial Day. Instead, Simmons and Foster not only commemorated fallen soldiers, they also exercised the political rights those patriots fought to protect.

Simmons and Foster used Simmons' home to host more than 100 people who came to meet Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rod Smith, the state senator from Gainesville.

The two women are active members of Democracy for America - Tampa Bay, the grass roots organization that was ignited by Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign. Candidates, activists and primarily average citizens filled nearly every nook of the Simmons home: out front, on the pool deck, in the family room, throughout the kitchen.

Simmons, 40, could hardly catch her breath between cleaning up spills, serving hot dogs and greeting guests. Foster was out front, shepherding cars and having her daughter Amanda drive in folks from nearby homes. Neither ate until long after the crowds had dispersed.

Why all this hubbub on a day more suited for tanning bodies than talking politics?

"There's too much at stake," Foster said. "When my grandchildren ask what did you do to help change things, I want to at least be able to say I tried."

I first met Foster and Simmons at a block party on Nikki Lane on New Year's Eve 2001. Back then, they seemed to be typical fun-loving suburban dwellers, striving to be good wives and moms. They were the neighborhood's social committee.

The next time I spotted them was at the Democratic state convention in December, and I knew right away something had changed. They were engaged in the world of politics, but for all the right reasons.

They weren't seeking a position in the state party's hierarchy; they weren't positioning themselves to run for office; they weren't giving $100 handshakes to politicians to buy a degree of influence.

They were simply looking to become a part of the process because they didn't like what the process had produced.

"Whether it be the threat of a draft, huge deficits, the air they breathe, college tuition, the future of this country relies on its children," Simmons said. "I don't think my Republican counterparts are thinking with their heart and gut when it comes to the future."

Simmons first got politically active as a PTA board member at Northwest Elementary. At a national PTA meeting, a speaker said that the parents of elementary-age children are the most likely group to be affected by political decisions, and the least likely to go out and cast a ballot.

Eventually, the Internet would become a political compass for Simmons. She would seek answers on blogs. She reviewed Donald Rumsfeld's political background and explored Dick Cheney's previous role as defense secretary.

She read all 30 pages of John Kerry's controversial post-Vietnam address to Congress, not just the five paragraphs Republicans used to campaign against Kerry. In August 2004, Simmons changed party affiliation from Republican to Democrat.

"If I could put two and two together, why weren't there other people searching for the truth?" Simmons wondered.

Foster, 48, always had lived her values through being a foster parent for special-needs kids while living in Pittsburgh. Now she has five children, including two special-needs kids she adopted.

However, it was Simmons who ignited Foster's latent activism. The two of them started knocking on doors and canvassing their neighborhoods for MoveOn.org in August 2004. Their passion to make a difference has only grown since then.

Now they are becoming valued players on the local scene. Weary of ineffective political forums, they decided to have a precinct house party. The hope was to draw 35 or 40 people interested in meeting Smith and local candidates, but everyday citizens tripled that number - on a holiday.

"We just wanted to spread the news and show what democracy looks like and sounds like to our precinct members," Simmons said.

When plans for the house party reached one longtime Hillsborough political operative, she told Smith's campaign workers she was not familiar with "the Simmons of Northwest Hillsborough."

Simmons and Foster could only laugh. No, they are not a powerful family consortium asserting their influence.

"We're just ordinary citizens trying to take our country back," Foster said.

At a time when some people don't realize this is an election year, and others haven't bothered to vote in decades, we need more ordinary citizens like Megan Foster and Francine Simmons.

That's all I'm saying.

Ernest Hooper can be reached at 813 226-3406, or hooper@sptimes.com.

[Last modified May 30, 2006, 04:47:35]