I'm very disappointed in Democratic governance. what is the issue?
Granholm had big ideas, she sold me on an optimistic version of the future. What happened? Everything stalled in the slefishness of our own little village called Lansing.
Obama sold me, and the way he can spout the rhetoric, I'm still sold. But, we bog down in the minutia of being everything to everybody. He negetoiates with himself in an attempt to be "bi-partisan".
We need a series of TV (and/or radio) advertisements that give people a reason to vote Democratic. Probably not by the Obama campaign, which is still working to introduce Obama himself.
Today's AP article shows that the Republicans reduced their value of human life by 12% -- a drop of nearly $1 million from just five years ago.
Of course, the calculations are a cynical Republican ploy to avoid issuing regulations for clean air.
"It appears that they're cooking the books in regards to the value of life." -- S. William Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies
"It's hard to imagine that it has other than a political motivation." -- Dan Esty, a senior EPA policy official in the administration of the first President Bush and now director of the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy
But most folks certainly feel viscerally that their own lives have less economic value now. We should be able to make a convincing case that the Democratic Party actually values individual lives more than Republicans.
Hillary just sent out the following message to her supporters:
Dear Friend,
I wanted you to be one of the first to know: on Saturday, I will hold an event in Washington D.C. to thank everyone who has supported my campaign. Over the course of the last 16 months, I have been privileged and touched to witness the incredible dedication and sacrifice of so many people working for our campaign. Every minute you put into helping us win, every dollar you gave to keep up the fight meant more to me than I can ever possibly tell you.
On Saturday, I will extend my congratulations to Senator Obama and my support for his candidacy. This has been a long and hard-fought campaign, but as I have always said, my differences with Senator Obama are small compared to the differences we have with Senator McCain and the Republicans.
I have said throughout the campaign that I would strongly support Senator Obama if he were the Democratic Party's nominee, and I intend to deliver on that promise.
When I decided to run for president, I knew exactly why I was getting into this race: to work hard every day for the millions of Americans who need a voice in the White House.
I made you -- and everyone who supported me -- a promise: to stand up for our shared values and to never back down. I'm going to keep that promise today, tomorrow, and for the rest of my life.
I will be speaking on Saturday about how together we can rally the party behind Senator Obama. The stakes are too high and the task before us too important to do otherwise.
I know as I continue my lifelong work for a stronger America and a better world, I will turn to you for the support, the strength, and the commitment that you have shown me in the past 16 months. And I will always keep faith with the issues and causes that are important to you.
In the past few days, you have shown that support once again with hundreds of thousands of messages to the campaign, and again, I am touched by your thoughtfulness and kindness.
I can never possibly express my gratitude, so let me say simply, thank you.
Lanny Davis layed out a compromise on the issue of Michigan and Florida in a piece on the Politico. He starts with two neutral principles which the Rules & Bylaws Committee members ought to use as a guide.
The legal principle supporting that solution is pretty simple. In U.S. contract law, the party breaching a contract usually has the right to "cure" the violation during the term of the contract. But if the other party stands in the way of that cure, the breaching party cannot be further sanctioned — and certainly, as a matter of fairness, the party preventing the cure should not stand to benefit.
According to Davis, this is what happened in 2008 to Michigan and Florida: both states violated party rules, but by March of 2008 were willing to "cure" (hold new primaries and raise money to pay for them).
DNC Chairman Howard Dean said at the time that such revotes were permissible and would bring Michigan and Florida back into compliance. And there was precedent: In 1996, Delaware Democrats held a party caucus earlier than the permissible date, resulting in a rule violation. But state Democrats were allowed to hold another caucus later on and were then found to be back in compliance.
It was a primary that would have made Pervez Musharraf blush. Only the name of one viable candidates was on the ballot. No major candidates campaigned. Even the "winner" dismissed the Michigan primary as something that "would not count for anything anyway."
45% of the voters still voted against the winner, and many said that if other candidates had been listed on the ballot those candidates would have gotten their votes.
But still the Michigan Democratic Party leadership, all endorsers of the "winner," Hillary Clinton, are planning to try to seat the delegates at the DNC in Denver.
According to an MDP press release yesterday (authored by a public Clinton endorser), 73 delegates will try to be seated in Denver as pledged to Clinton, while 55 will be uncommitted.
National Clinton campaign spokespersons, despite what Clinton herself said in January dismissing the Michigan primary, are now claiming to have "won" in Michigan.
We've heard a lot of talk out of the Clinton campaign in Michigan – who also happen to control the reins of power in the MDP and the state government – that the issue is about the importance of Michigan and its role in selecting the nominee.
Hillary Clinton has issued a statement regarding the seating of delegates at the Convention in Denver, saying that Michigan and Florida are an important part of a Democratic victory in November and that she will ask that her Democratic convention seat the delegations from Florida and Michigan.
"I hear all the time from people in Florida and Michigan that they want their voices heard in selecting the Democratic nominee.
"I believe our nominee will need the enthusiastic support of Democrats in these states to win the general election, and so I will ask my Democratic convention delegates to support seating the delegations from Florida and Michigan. I know not all of my delegates will do so and I fully respect that decision. But I hope to be President of all 50 states and U.S. territories, and that we have all 50 states represented and counted at the Democratic convention.
Sen. Clinton will continue abiding by the four-state pledge and not campaign in states with violating elections.
The Obama campaign is on recording as having said the following:
Our position and the position of the DNC is clear -- neither the Florida nor Michigan primaries are playing any role in deciding the Democratic nominee and we are not campaigning in either state.
And yet, they are airing ads in Florida on cable networks such as CNN and MSNBC, which both illustrates the national scope of the race and the Obama campaign's acknowledgement that Florida is an important race. But the national scope of the race hasn't stopped early state Democratic leaders from protesting Obama's move.
"Words matter, promises matter and pledges matter," said [former Iowa Governor Tom] Vilsack, who ended his own presidential campaign in February 2007 and endorsed Clinton. "It calls into question the promises and pledges he's made on the campaign trail."
The Obama camps decision to air national ads (which include Florida) right before the Primary there is especially interesting because it was the Obama campaign which organized the other campaigns to withdraw their names from Michigan's ballot.
Five individuals connected to five different campaigns have confirmed -- but only under condition of anonymity -- that the situation that developed in connection with the Michigan ballot is not at all as it appears on the surface. The campaign for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, arguably fearing a poor showing in Michigan, reached out to the others with a desire of leaving New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as the only candidate on the ballot. The hope was that such a move would provide one more political obstacle for the Clinton campaign to overcome in Iowa.
According to Grebner's analysis, Hillary Clinton won 73 delegates from Michigan, which she carried with over 55% of the vote.
Sen. Hillary Clinton's full statement below the jump.
I have been musing that the MDP scheduled a primary on Martin Luther King's birthday (as opposed to the national holiday), when it was a primary that disenfranchised a black candidate who respected the letter and spirit of DNC rules (and a replacement February primary/caucus could easily have been scheduled); but maybe the forces of justice had their due last night.
...the exit poll results from this strange contest reveal some troubling trends for the New York Senator. ...
Among black voters, Clinton was crushed by "uncommitted," 26-70. If that kind of margin among African Americans continues into future primaries, she faces major problems in the heavily black January 26 South Carolina primary....
...Clinton was perfectly positioned. She had no serious opposition. She also had the strong support of top Michigan Democrats such as Governor Jennifer Granholm and U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow.
Usually, a prominent presidential contender running a primary campaign without serious opposition and with strong in-state support from party leaders can count on winning 90 percent or more of the vote. ...
A remarkable 40 percent of Michiganders who participated in the primary voted for nobody, marking the "Uncommitted" option on their ballots. ...
Ominously for the Clinton camp, the former First Lady was losing the African-American vote -- in Wayne County and statewide -- to "Uncommitted." African-American leaders such as Detroit Congressman John Conyers, who backs Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, had urged an "Uncommitted" vote. ...
It is hard[] to believe that Clinton will get very far claiming Michigan handed her a meaningful victory Tuesday night. When two out of every five voters choose nobody rather than a prominent candidate who is running with little or no opposition, that candidate's got no reason to celebrate.
With comments like the Mich Lib one recently about needing a Caucasian fella on the ticket (Why? I'd vote for an Obama/Sebelius ticket, no white guy there), I think it is good to be sensitive, racially and otherwise, when making comments, maybe. And with the Daily Kos observations today, John Kerry: Kicking ass, defending the right to vote, and flying to Nevada (on John Kerry's fighting the Clinton attempt to disenfranchise largely Latina/o workers' vote), and Say Goodbye to Howard Dean, (about the DNC entering the legal fray against the Clinton disenfranchisement attempt, and the likelihood of the Clintons booting Dean, in favor of Terry McAuliffe, if they win), it looks not just like a Michigan Dem struggle against Granholm/Brewer/Dingell's complicity with disenfranchisement, it looks like a national battle, of the reformers against the unworthy Establishment. I hope we'd all be on the side of the reformers.
(While the DNC can't per se oppose the Clinton campaign, it's nice to see them at least opposing a Clinton initiative. Maybe Dean knows that not only will he be booted if the Clintons return to power, but decency itself will be booted as well.)
--The message, as always, is, be active and take back your party. Find replacements for the people I mention above who need to be replaced. Run yourself if you have to. Be inclusive to minorities and to people in general. Promote the right over the wrong, and progress over stagnation. Keep the dream alive. MLK would expect no less of you.
Your Michigan Democratic Party leaders, your servants in the democratic/Democratic process, are meeting Wednesday 11/7 at 7 p.m., and will likely decide there whether your 2008 presidential vote will mean anything. Or not. Even if you liked the "message" that an early, rulebreaking primary sent out; at this point, only a rule-following caucus on February 5 or after (e.g., Feb. 9) is assured of leading the DNC to count the delegates at the national convention. And I wouldn't count on the "Michigan is too big, they'll have to seat us no matter what" illusion; sometimes the bigger you are, the harder you f... If you want to be enfranchised and have your vote count in 2008, just demand that the MDP hold a February caucus so that you won't be treated as a nobody. Meeting and contact info:
Meeting location (MDP headquarters): 606 Townsend, Lansing, MI 48933
MDP phone: (517) 371-5410
MDP e-mail(s): jwarman@michigandems.com, Joanne Warman, MDP Receptionist (and/or jmoon@michigandems.com, Jason Moon, MDP Communications Director ...you can just put both in the "to" box)
Hey, they might even have to listen to you if you show up in person, see the MDP rules here (unless they got secretly changed or something):
...ARTICLE 2. POLICY
A. Fundamental Principles
1. All public meetings at all levels of the Democratic Party in Michigan shall be open to all members of the Democratic Party regardless of actual or perceived race, color, creed, sex, age, national origin, economic status, religion, ethnic identity, ancestry,marital status, sexual orientation, physical appearance or disability. ...
3. The time and place for all public meetings of the Democratic Party on all levels shall be publicized fully and in such a manner as to assure timely notice to all interested persons. Such meetings must be held in places accessible to all Party members and large enough to accommodate all interested persons. ...
9. Votes shall not be taken by secret ballot at any meeting of the Democratic Party in Michigan at any level. ...
It's YOUR Party. Do you want your vote to count, and the right to vote for all the 2008 candidates; or do you want some "beauty contest" that even Hillary said doesn't matter, and with most of the major candidates absent? Your Party, your choice. Let your voice be heard!!
(And don't forget the lawsuit against the 1/15 primary by Mark Grebner due to the parties hogging election info, see the estimable Eric B. in State sued over presidential primary; nor forget state Dem rep Martin Griffin's attempt to undo the early primary, see here,
State Rep. Martin Griffin, D-Jackson, is pushing legislation that would effectively cancel the state's 2008 presidential primary.
He says the state can't afford a $10 million primary that no longer makes Michigan relevant in the Democratic process. ...
"In these tough economic times, taxpayers can ill afford to bear the cost of a presidential primary," he said. "The benefit to holding the primary is lost."
)
Go Michigan democracy! Go Michigan Democrats! (And vote tomorrow...thanks!)
UPDATED: also recall that, cf. philgoblue's diary, On the Primary Crisis: What's Next, Kent County Democrats are demanding to be enfranchised with a Feb. caucus, and cf. sndowty's diary Washtenaw Dems Resolution on Jan. 15th Primary to similar effect re Washtenaw Dems, etc. If MDP leadership insists on ignoring the people, they could find their own seats jeopardized at the next election...
FURTHER updated: looks like meeting may be *Closed to Public!!! !!*, see comments below. (Why should your Flawless Leaders ever listen to you anyway?) However, you can always
1) stand outside the meeting with a sign (or would they have you arrested),
2) express your displeasure with a closed meeting of a supposedly "democratic" organization...either by phone, or e-mail, or on this blog, etc.,
3) anything else you can think of, to fight your own disenfranchisement!!!
MO further updated: a comment below sez that the meeting's now open, so that the ol' title "MDP *CLOSED-TO-PUBLIC* meeting on 11/7; demand a Feb. caucus & enfranchisement (FURTHER updated)" may be superseded, hopefully...
Democratic chairman Howard Dean visited a small Christian college in Holland, Michigan on Monday to talk about faith and politics.
"I am not here to persuade you [into voting Democrat] and if that happens that's great that's God's work," Dean told the audience jokingly.
Dean stated that he was a member of a church back home and that his beliefs were what led him to choose the Democratic Party. In the past few elections Democrats have not done well among religious voters and he said that the Democratic Party needed to do a better job of reaching out to people of faith.
Dean was there to talk about what the two parties have in common and he said that there really is a lot they have in common.
I am proud to announce my candidacy for MDP Youth Caucus Chair here on Michiganliberal.com
I will kick-off my campaign talking with Democrats in Washtenaw County this Friday at 6:30 PM. I look forward to the conversation and debate. I hope you can stop by.
Sincerely,
Al "BJ" Williams
Some info about BJ:
? Co-Founder Midtown Young Democrats 2003
? Youth Organizer for Governor Jennifer Granholm -2002
? Registered thousands of voters under the age of 35 years old
? Coordinated VOTE SMART youth outreach - 2003-2004
? Helped elect young dems to office in Michigan and across the nation
? Graduate of University of Detroit High School ( same high school that the First Gentlemen Dan Mulhern attended)
? Graduate of Morehouse College (political science major) 2007
? Served as official liaison between University President and Student Government president at Morehouse College - 2005-2006
? Chair, Atlanta University Center Hurricane Katrina Relief Organization - 2005
? Organized over 3000 volunteers for Hurricane Katrina Relief effort
? Member of the NAACP
? Wayne County Director for Howard Dean for President - 2003 - 2004
Now, the man on the stand he wants my vote,
He's a-runnin' for office on the ballot note.
He's out there preachin' in front of the steeple,
Tellin' me he loves all kinds-a people.
He's eatin' bagels
He's eatin' pizza
He's eatin' chitlins
He's eatin' bullshit!
Bob Dylan "I Shall Be Free"
I knew this would happen when they started campaigning for the 2008 election five minutes after the 2006 mid terms. I felt it coming, like the feeling I get when I eat a giant sausage sandwich with peppers and onions at midnight, I know that indigestion is in my immediate future.
I'm sick of politics, thoroughly, fed up, to the gills.... Urp!
I know, I know, being sick of politics is like being tired of living, OK so what what what do you do about it? Shut up? Quit bitching? Take up residence in the nearest hermitage? Find a cuckoo's nest and commit to it?
The Ingham County Democratic Party met on Saturday February 10th to hold their pre-state convention gathering. It was great seeing my friends in the party regulars and I even saw a MichLibber or two. We also voted on some important resolutions...
