DAVID SKOLNICK \ Politics Disgruntled Democrats hold their fire

It had the potential to be explosive.
But the most memorable thing was the lack of fireworks when Mahoning County Democratic Chairwoman Lisa Antonini spoke at Tuesday's meeting of the Democrats of the 17th and 6th Districts.
Even before her election as county chair in 2002, Antonini and the political group didn't get along. Both would openly criticize the other.
Club members don't agree with how Antonini runs the party, particularly her support of certain candidates.
Antonini has complained about posts on the group's message board on its Website (www.dems17.org) that criticize her and other Democrats. You don't have to belong to the group to post on the board, but members have posted some of the anti-Antonini comments.
The evening Antonini was elected chairwoman four years ago, she told Andy Hamady of Poland, a club official, that she would attend a group meeting.
It took four years, but Antonini finally showed up Tuesday.
It is no coincidence that Antonini attended her first meeting this week.
She is up for re-election this year and the group includes some Democratic precinct committee members, the body that votes for party chair. During her talk to the group, Antonini never mentioned the chair race, but she didn't have to.
The group recently formed a committee to find someone to challenge Antonini. After realizing the task was too great to overcome, its members have since abandoned that effort.
For years, the group fought the establishment. During that time, the group helped elect candidates and exposed questionable tactics by officeholders.
The county party inadvertently helped give some power to the political club. Because of the weakening of the county party, the club has become a viable alternative for Democrats.
Also, the county party doesn't endorse candidates in the primary -- one reason why it isn't strong -- so a number of political newcomers, and even some veterans, have sought the support of the Dems 17/6 and benefited from the endorsements.
Even so, the group is still viewed by some in local politics as outsiders, mavericks and/or kooks.
The group formed in June 1998 primarily because of dissatisfaction with the established county Democratic Party. The group wanted to offer a political alternative.
But in the past year or so, the leadership of the club has led the group in a different direction. It counts county commissioners, trustees of townships, judges, and state representatives among its members. The group's leadership has attempted to make the club more mainstream.
The group still isn't pleased with the job done by Antonini, and I'm sure Antonini isn't thrilled with some of the group's members.
Even with the bickering over the years, it was obvious that the group's leaders were excited to have Antonini at the meeting.
Club President Bob Lyden warned his membership to be respectful toward Antonini or he would toss them out of the meeting. For the most part, the members honored that request.
The past problems were not mentioned, and the only criticism of Antonini came from two of the group's most outspoken members: Mark Meszaros of Mineral Ridge and Bill Flickinger of Youngstown. They're better known to local talk radio fans as Mark from Niles and Hollywood Bill. But even the pair wasn't terribly critical of Antonini.
Antonini focused her speech on the importance of electing Democrats to office, particularly on the state level, this year. She essentially ran down the ticket, giving her perspective of each race.
One item of interest was Antonini's analysis of Democratic primary of the U.S. Senate race.
She said U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown of Avon would probably win the primary, but the party's most electable candidate in the race is Paul Hackett, an Iraqi war veteran from the Cincinnati area.
For the most part, the group lobbed softball questions at Antonini. That probably wouldn't have happened a few years ago, and that's probably why Antonini waited until this week to attend a club meeting.
When it was done, both sides said they were pleased with the meeting and hoped to work together this year to elect Democrats.
While there will be a few holdouts, it looks like the club wants to honor that request.
In less than seven years, the group formed to fight the political insiders is, for the most part, standing side-by-side with those insiders.