Grist for today's Mark Brewer-related flame war

Steve Dart for Party Unity!

If you get that joke - you've been to too many MDP COnventions

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by: 48101 Guy @ Wed Jan 30, 2013 at 18:27:30 PM UTC

Steve Dart for MDP Chair boomlet

I knew Steve Dart; Steve was a friend of mine.  And Mark Brewer is no Steve Dart.  For one thing, Mark Brewer is still alive....

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by: Grebner @ Wed Jan 30, 2013 at 21:40:18 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

HAHAHAHAHA!

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by: LH @ Wed Jan 30, 2013 at 22:25:28 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

OK, Let's Start

Both the Michigan Democratic Party and our labor unions need radically new leadership. Both have been guilty of opacity and uninspired insipid work.

You can argue that the multiple failures to take control of state government is beyond their control, but you cannot argue that it happened on their watch, for DECADES and DECADES.

Start with replacing leadership at the state and regional level, change the rules to make the party and labor more transparent and make activism at the local level meaningful.

And its time to examine the lack of leadership at the Congressional level and the negotiations that created super-safe seats for our five old white guys.

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by: LH @ Wed Jan 30, 2013 at 18:29:22 PM UTC

John Conyers...

is old but he ain't white.  

Also, Dems did not really have much of say in the 2011 map drawing.  That's a failure of the Party and Legislative Caucuses in the 2010 election and not a result of negotiations by the Dem delegation.

I do think Dan Kildee has a future beyond the House but that's down the road.  

And Gary Peters will run for the Senate when Carl retires.  But don't be mistaken, when it comes to electoral politics Gary Peters is concerned about Gary Peters and not much else.

We have a chance in the 1st and 7th to get some new blood in the delegation (and down the road the 11th may become an opportunity as well).  We need good candidates and strong support system in these CDs.

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by: 48101 Guy @ Wed Jan 30, 2013 at 18:51:19 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Please

Stop thinking in one dimension.

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by: LH @ Wed Jan 30, 2013 at 18:58:00 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

First Off

I'm not impressed with our Congressional delegation.

For decades they have worked to place themselves in safer and safer seats while ignoring any Farm Team efforts in the district. The only exception I can think of to some extent is David Bonoir. He's gone but his "Boys" are still grazing the field over in Macomb County.

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by: LH @ Wed Jan 30, 2013 at 19:01:18 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Agreed here

Sandy, Conyers and Dingell should have already helped to groom and elect their successors. They should be enjoying retirement. Instead, they are fading to irrelevancy with nobody being brought up to take their spots.  

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by: MIChange @ Wed Jan 30, 2013 at 21:05:32 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Question

Are they THAT afraid of a creating their own potential challenger? What's the reason they just don't promote good candidates for local office?

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by: LH @ Wed Jan 30, 2013 at 21:28:03 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I'm sure

that's the biggest factor. But just living the life is probably equally as important to them.

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by: MIChange @ Wed Jan 30, 2013 at 22:05:18 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

HEY!

The dean can do whatever the Dean wants, he is John Dingell and Sandy is the ranking dem on Ways and Means. Now Conyers is a member we could do without, what was the fact during the primary he has not passed a bill in like 15 years or something. It's not like memebers with safe seats create there safe seats. Conyers did not create a voting demographic in Detroit that would reelected a dem no matter what.

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by: BlueBoxing @ Wed Jan 30, 2013 at 21:48:38 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

good for goose, good for gander

If Conyers is good to go, then so is Dingell and Sandy. Dingell's clout has significantly decreased on Capitol Hill. I know he garners lots of love but his time has come. Same with Sandy. I guarantee if the Dems flip the Congress back into their control, Sandy will not chair Ways and Means.

And, actually, the members do/can create their safe seats, to an extent at least. Conyers and Hansen Clarke switched districts so Conyers could get reelected. The 14th, now Peters' district, wouldn't have been so friendly to Conyers.  

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by: MIChange @ Wed Jan 30, 2013 at 22:04:19 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Dingell married his

Oh, everybody assumes John doesn't need to groom a successor; his wife will run.

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by: William Allen Simpson @ Wed Jan 30, 2013 at 23:12:35 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

.

Very true. Was it a long time ago he dropped the "John" part from his branding? I imagine it was but I'm not sure. Like his signs and shirts. Hell if it wasn't for the paid for she would have the whole campaign in the bag.

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by: BlueBoxing @ Thu Jan 31, 2013 at 01:12:55 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Yeah

Good luck with that.  Monica isn't getting elect anywhere ever again in spitting distance of Southeast Michigan.  I know folks think very lowly of Detroit voters - and for years they deserved that assumption - but the whole "friends and family"/"he may be a crook, but he's our crook" brand of politics died in Detroit along with the Kilpatrick's family electoral demise.

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by: MiddleGrandGuy @ Thu Jan 31, 2013 at 02:58:56 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I think he's referring to Dingell

...but you're right about Conyers.

Great Lakes, Great Times, Great Scott

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by: ScottyUrb @ Thu Jan 31, 2013 at 03:46:03 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

.

Yeah Debby D not Monica C that would be a train wreck.

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by: BlueBoxing @ Thu Jan 31, 2013 at 04:01:06 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Whew!

Thanks for correcting me. lol

Yeah, my opinion on this is if there is a serious attempt to push out Brewer, at all, we sure as hell better put someone up that can serve for some time, and someone not so connected to the old guard.  I would not support trading out Brewer only to install some entrenched Metro Detroiter.  I think even more than in most state parties, MIDems need some new blood.  Metro Detroit has to have one of the oldest congressional delegations in the nation, and it's not necessarily their age that bothers me, but that no one has really developed legitimate, independent successors.

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by: MiddleGrandGuy @ Thu Jan 31, 2013 at 04:27:42 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

i'm of the opinion

that the Chair should be Detroit-based. Detroit is still the Democratic stronghold of the state and if leveraged properly can propel Dems to statewide victories. That's actually what has been lacking for years now.

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by: MIChange @ Thu Jan 31, 2013 at 14:41:15 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Maybe

Maybe not.

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by: LH @ Thu Jan 31, 2013 at 16:34:36 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Brewer Salary

So how much is this guy paid?

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by: LH @ Thu Jan 31, 2013 at 16:45:07 PM UTC