CHAPEL HILL - - A Democratic Party leader Saturday urged Chatham County Democrats to counter "busloads of ranting Repubicans" in the debate over health care reform.

A record 176 Democrats gathered for their fourth annual community breakfast at Carolina Meadows Retirement Community. They applauded loudly after hearing speaker C. Payne Lucas Jr., director of party affairs and development for the N. C. Democratic Party, as well as Ken Lewis, Cal Cunningham and Elaine Marshall, all potential candidates for Sen. Richard Burr's seat in 2010.

The dominant party almost inevitably suffers losses in mid-term elections, Lucas said.

"Democrats going forward ... must be trend-setters, out in the field, on the ground, as they were for the Obama campaign," he said. "It will be critical to humanize health care issues around the state, by holding small heart-felt round table discussions, so we can combat the busloads of ranting Republicans, members of Americans for Prosperity, being funded by corporations and insurance giants."

Ken Lewis, the only officially declared Senate contender in 2010, focused on his family as his primary reason for running for office.

His mother grew up on a North Carolina plantation and became the first generation in her family to attend college. His father, a minister and college professor, also was the first generation in his family to attend college. Lewis attended Duke University as an undergraduate and become a business and community development lawyer after graduating from Harvard Law School.

"I am running because I believe in the arc of progress, framed by a simple formula: opportunity and hard work invariably lead to progress and prosperity," said Lewis. "I will work on creating educational and economic opportunities. Using tax credit, government can operate as a lever for change. Burr has shown no leadership. He asked his wife to pull all her money from the bank during our record depression and job loss. He also opposed the stimulus and Sotomeyer."

Cunningham, 36, a former chairman of the Young Democrats in Orange, a former state senator, and also an Iraq veteran who served in the Army Reserve's military judiciary, and now a lawyer in Winston-Salem, spoke next. He said he was watching the sunrise over Baghdad and the call to prayer when Obama was sworn in.

"We have inherited one of the biggest messes in history-in terms of job loss and health care," he said. "During the current recess, 45,000 citizens are losing their health care every week."

Final speaker of the morning, N.C. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, 63, has served in North Carolina government for more than 30 years, most recently as N.C. Secretary of State since 1996 when she unexpectedly won a race against Republican former stock car racer Richard Petty.

Marshall, like Cunningham, has made no official declaration yet. However, the passion she spoke with seemed a strong indicator she will run.

"Let's give ourselves credit. We turned North Carolina blue," she declared." We helped put Obama in the White House. But we must realize now that the work has only begun."

"The Republicans fueled a culture of greed, awarding their cronies. They took us to our knees and broke our nation. The started a war with no plan for achieving peace. They gave billions to banks plus bonuses. Burr has been a big part of the problem, always cheering Bush on. It's time to send him back to Winston-Salem."

"It's time to fix health care and help families, to stop higher premiums and fewer benefits. It is time to wean the U.S. from foreign oil. It's time to rebuild our standing in the world and support human rights, and also to honor our veterans."

Karl Kachergis, Chatham County Democratic Party chairman, praised the three potential candidates "for helping to move us away from a culture in which willful ignorance is a virtue.

"I promise, whoever is on the ballot, we will love you," he said. "We are so eager to have another U.S. Senator we can be proud of. They will help bring us to a point where our GNP is no longer exceeded by the Gross National Appetite."