“What’s in a name?” the Bard asked. No matter what’s in the name, Gladerine Dean says her name is not the “Dean” referred to in recent news articles and letters to the editor about the Moore County Democratic Convention.

At first, it was funny. Then it became annoying as Gladerine received more and more calls from people wanting to know why she was leading a dissident faction in the Democratic Party. She wants to make it perfectly clear: She is a plain, old-fashioned, dyed-in-the- wool Democrat. Not only does she vote, but she is also active in party organizational affairs, starting at the precinct level.

The name confusion probably dates to one or more news items appearing in The Pilot about the Moore County Democratic convention in early April. There were rumors that the “Dean group” would walk out of the convention if the nominating process did not go to the collective liking.

Well, there was no walkout, the convention went smoothly and everyone was smiling and sociable. And they didn’t even serve barbecue.

But some people did not like the brief reference to a walkout by the “Dean group” and wrote a couple of letters mentioning the subject. In fact, there is no evidence that the “Dean group” really exists, at least in the sense that it represents a faction of the party. We did learn later that some people did not like the way the nominating process was handled. Nevertheless, the floor was open for nominations, and nominations were indeed made from the floor.

The trouble is that some readers didn’t know that “Dean” is Howard, not Gladerine.

Memories are short. And, of course, Gladerine is closer at hand than Howard.

Howard Dean is a former governor of Vermont who was a Democratic candidate for president last year. He attracted an enthusiastic following, known informally as “Deaniacs” because of their passion for his cause. Behind their passion was a vocal support for his views that the United States had no business invading Iraq. His supporters included doves as well as many people from all parties who are not necessarily “doves” in the sense that they are peaceniks. Instead, the latter group simply thinks the country made a mistake by entering Iraq.

Dean (Howard, not Gladerine, remember) dropped out of the running when it became clear that Sen. John Kerry had garnered sufficient delegates to claim the party nomination. That’s a concession that Sen. John Edwards, a former Moore Countian who now has a job at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, also made — a decision made early enough that Kerry claimed him as his running mate.

It’s true that some Dean followers did not take to Edwards because he had voted for war in Iraq. Edwards was a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee at the time and was privy to classified information that apparently persuaded him and other committee members to go along with President Bush’s plan to invade Iraq in search of weapons of mass destruction.

By now, it’s old news that there were no WMDs to be found in Iraq and the decision to invade was based on spurious information. In hindsight, we recognize the war as costly in terms of lives and economic consequences. But it’s too late to reverse that action.

Edwards finally came around to agreeing with opponents of the war, but by campaign time, it was too late for him to change his vote in the Senate. Most Dean supporters came around and ended up supporting Edwards.

Howard Dean is probably thinking “I told you so” these days, but he has his hands full with other work. He was recently elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee, a full-time position.

What does this have to do with Gladerine Dean?

Absolutely nothing, because she is not the leader of any group of Dean supporters. Nor is she a critic of Howard Dean. And no, he’s not a relative.

Gladerine makes no bones about her party affiliation, but she tries to keep a level head on civic issues. She is active in other aspects of Moore County life, including service as chair of the Moore County Board of Social Services. She has also been active in programs for older residents and worked diligently for a senior center.

Gladerine was a delegate to the county convention, and she certainly did not walk out.

She has no argument with folks who continue to support Howard Dean. She just has one request: Please, when referring to the “Dean group,” add his first name, making it the “Howard Dean group” so folks won’t think it’s Gladerine.