MDP Convention Moved to Larger Ballroom at Cobo

I believe the August 2006 convention took place there

There should be plenty of room, even with the extra delegates in attendance.

A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul.

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by: Hy Dudgeon @ Thu Feb 21, 2013 at 19:14:10 PM UTC

The bigger tent party

needs bigger spaces!

Great Lakes, Great Times.

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by: Michael McGuinness @ Thu Feb 21, 2013 at 19:24:41 PM UTC

Eh?

Excitement for this Saturday's State Convention at Cobo Center in Detroit is  at an all-time high! Michigan Democrats are fired up and ready to take on Gov. Rick Snyder in 2014.

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by: LH @ Thu Feb 21, 2013 at 22:44:26 PM UTC

I was thinking the crowd would be oversize.

The fact that 200 people show up, weeks before the event, in a single county, to hear the candidates debate, suggests to me that attendance is likely to be be north of 3000.

I guess Brewer deserves credit for getting people to really care who's elected to his job.  When he was first chosen, he tried to get people involved by bringing a road-show to them, with slides and brochures and pious talk.  Turns out that losing a string of winnable elections was a much more effective recruitment method.

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by: Grebner @ Fri Feb 22, 2013 at 00:18:38 AM UTC

Well

That, and the UAW purchasing a thousand or so potential votes.  I mean, let's be honest, this thing has been an unbriddled mess.  In fact, I'm less excited by how this has all played out, and even more cynical about politics - if that was even possible - because of this, not more.

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by: MiddleGrandGuy @ Fri Feb 22, 2013 at 01:53:24 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Grebner

Two things...one...you calling someone else pious is like...pot, meet kettle...  I mean I like you and you're a good guy, but you have to admit, there was more than a whiff of piety coming off the (incredibly amusing) mail pieces you sent for your quixotic drain commissioner campaign.  Two, out of curiousity, and because you're honest about this stuff, when I was polled by PPC the other day was that for your own amusement or are you on Lon's (or the UAW's) payroll?  

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by: DocHopper @ Fri Feb 22, 2013 at 02:21:56 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Answers!

1) I happen to think the Drain Commission a much more serious office than MDP Chair is.  My campaign wouldn't have seemed quite so quixotic if the people who convinced me to run with their promises of campaign support hadn't disappeared when the incumbent turned his threats and promises in their direction.  Developers with millions of dollars at stake were very angry at him in 2011, but changed their minds completely by the spring of 2012.  Leaving Don Quixote to complete his quest alone in the company of Sancho Panza.

2) I don't think the poll was run by PPC. The robo-call I received Monday wasn't recorded by us - I didn't recognize the voice.  That call promised the information would be kept confidential, and asked only who I was supporting and whether I or anybody in my family was associated with organized labor.  That's not our standard script, although a client might have supplied the text.

If PPC is really involved, it would be news to me, and it's not a project I know anything about.  Was there something specific about the call that links it to PPC?

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by: Grebner @ Fri Feb 22, 2013 at 04:10:02 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Sorry for the delay in replying

I was busy.

I was polled twice, once by a robo-poll, and once specifically by someone who works for you, Mark.  To be fair, the kid may have just been phonebanking for Johnson. But he definitely worked for PPC and ID'd his boss, and the guy who handed him the list he was working from, as you.

As for the Drain Commissioner race, I enjoyed your campaign and your points. I believe you about the promised support disappearing when those in power currently get wind of dissention in the ranks. In fact in the last week I've witnessed and/or fielded angry phone calls over this chair race. From Congressman or their proxies, state reps, and I've been personally threatened by a UAW region official. All for sticking by someone I respect.  

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by: DocHopper @ Sat Feb 23, 2013 at 01:34:21 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Volunteers for Johnson

I think a lot of PPC employees got "volunteered" to help Johnson.  I suppose I should accept responsibility, but really, nobody asked me, and I didn't have much to do with it.  

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by: Grebner @ Sat Feb 23, 2013 at 03:38:33 AM UTC

[ Parent ]