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".
My name is Ted Kilvington and I am the chairman of Mid-Michigan Democracy for America. Democracy for America (DFA) is a national progressive advocacy group founded in 2004 by Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and promotes progressive causes and candidates throughout the nation. One of DFA’s goals has always been promoting progressive Democrats in traditional Republican areas in the hopes of turning red regions blue.
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.
Jane has me fairly persuaded that some good will come out of seeing the Democratic primary process extend for two more months. Except for one thing. As a Michigander, I see how the posturing about MI's DNC delegation is exacerbating the wounds of having had our January 15 presidential primary turn into a Clusterfuck of grand scale. More and more, I see volunteers who have been critical to our GOTV success in recent years tuning out of the party, utterly disgusted by the state and national politicians posturing about our vote.
There have been a number of solutions proposed--but they're really just more cynical attempts to game the Clusterfuck primary which, like the posturing, is only exacerbating the wounds. So yesterday, I proposed my own solution, one that accomplishes what everyone says they want, and one that has been pretty well received in the blogosphere. Today, I'm started a petition to collect the names of people who would like the MDP and the DNC to adopt this fair solution for the seemingly intractable problem of how to seat MI's delegation.
Earlier this week I was contacted by a woman who introduced herself by saying she had never done anything "activist" before, but after hearing about a protest of the DNC in Florida, had decided to organize one here in Michigan. I'm pasting the flyer for the event below:
On January 15, 2008, nearly 600,000 Michigan Democrats went to the polls to make their voices heard in the Democratic Presidential primary. The popular vote in Florida and Michigan has been counted, certified by election officials in each state, and officially tallied by the secretary of state in each state.
Our votes cannot be ignored. We will not be disenfranchised. The DNC’s refusal to count our votes and seat our delegates according to the ballots cast on January 15 compromises our civil liberties and our voting rights. This decision affects the rights of ALL Michigan residents regardless of political affiliation.
Michigan, let your voice be heard.
Join together in a grassroots effort to ensure voting privileges and protect the right to vote for future generations.
Demand that our votes be counted and delegates seated based on the Jan. 15 poll results or that a new Michigan primary take place.
Demand that the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee take the necessary steps to ensure the voices of the people of Michigan are heard and its delegates are seated at the Democratic convention this summer.
Where: Michigan State Capitol Building, Lansing, Mi.
According to The Politico's Ben Smith, there are 50-60 Michigan and Florida union members picketing at the DNC headquarters.
They're complaining that the DNC's refusal to seat Florida and Michigan delagates will prevent dozens of union members who are delegates from attending the convention, and they want DNC Chairman Howard Dean to resolve the dispute.
Mike Williams, a Florida union member, compared the DNC's refusal to seat the delegates from those two states as similar to when a comoany locks outs striking union employees.
"We're getting locked out," said Williams as he and the other union members pickteted the DNC. Williams estimated that as many as a dozen building trade union members, and 30 union members overall, would be part of the Florida contingent to the Democratic convention
Update: The pickets are members are of the Building and Construction Trades Council, which, to my knowledge, has not yet endorsed a presidential candidate.
This morning, prominent Democratic women from Massachusetts rallied in front of the State House, where "they threatened to withold support for the party nominee if they felt the nominating process has been bankrupted."
They called on MA superdelegates (which include Sens. Kerry and Kennedy and Governor Patrick Deval -- all three of whom have endorsed Sen. Barack Obama) to push for both a new primary in Michigan and a commitment to including the Florida delegates by seating those already elected or holding a new primary there, as well.
“Without us, there is no party. And if we leave, that wouldn’t be good,” said Senate President Therese Murray, standing at a podium in front of a staircase packed with bold-faced Democratic names. The group circulated a pledge for superdelegates to sign...
Attorney Ellen Zucker said the mechanics of campaigning would be harmed by disillusioning a major bloc of the Democratic coalition. “This is the core of the party,” she said. “These are the people who do the work. And their frustration has to be taken seriously.”
The rally took place around the same time as a meeting between Florida superdelegates and DNC Chairman Howard Dean, resulting in a joint statement, saying, in part:
We are all committed to doing everything we can to ensure that a Florida delegation is seated in Denver. We all agree that whatever the solution, it must have the support of both campaigns... We're committed to working with both campaigns to reach a solution as soon as realistically possible...
Clinton campaign Deputy Communications Director Phil Singer released the following statement in response to the DNC's statement:
We have long maintained that pretending the voters of Florida and Michigan don’t exist is not fair in principle and unwise in practice. This morning’s Quinnipiac poll out of Florida reflects the urgent need for Democrats to get behind our effort to count Florida’s voters and seat its delegation. Chairman Dean is clearly committed to seating the Florida delegation and we urge Senator Obama to join us in calling on the rules and bylaws committee to make this a reality.
Singer is referring to the latest Quinnipiac poll which shows Clinton leading John McCain 44-42, while Obama trails by 9 points. (The poll also has Hillary leading McCain in Ohio 48-39, with Obama's lead over McCain is just 1 point.)
Full news story after the jump.
EDIT: In the original version, I wasn't thinking clearly (blame it on midterms) and put "Michigan" instead of "Massachusetts."
Florida Governor Crist said that he would be open to a “redo” of his state’s Democratic primary.Michigan’s Governor has not been so generous.
The Democratic Party stripped Michigan and Florida of their delegates for moving their primary before February 5th in violation of party rules.
Governor Jennifer Granholm of Michigan said in February that, “The DNC created this problem by the sanctions they used and unfairly applied. The DNC has to fix this problem.”
As both a Democrat and a resident of Michigan, I have to say she could not be more wrong.Moving the primary ahead to January 15th brought Republicans and Democrats together in Lansing in ways they would not previously.
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.
If Barack Obama and John Edwards wanted to back up their blustery tough-talk about "change" and "the courage to take on the Washington establishment," they had the chance to show the world that they are willing and able to do whatever is required to get down and dirty and deal directly with the country's, and Michigan's, most pressing problems. But when push came to shove, these anti-establishment crusaders politely followed the Howard Dean-provided status-quo script.
If these two do not have the courage to challenge the Democratic National Committee's archaic rules, like Michigan can't move up its primary, why should we think they would or could ever muster the 'ganas' to take the bold actions required to effectively address real problems like corporate welfare, labor law, trade policies, education, health care, defense spending, infrastructure, civil liberties, climate change and more? The very problems at the forefront of why Michigan moved up its primary in the first place. Their cowardly actions in the Michigan primary tell us we simply cannot count on them to do what's right if the 'good old boys' say it's wrong.
Understand, Clinton's willingness to leave her name on the ballot does not, by any stretch, mean she would or could fights those fights either.
However, the whole ordeal certainly left this voter proud of his support for Dennis Kucinich.
Just noting that "Michigan's Favorite Power Couple" is losing power, fast. (Thank goodness) My diary of earlier today about JD being handed his weathered head by Nancy Pelosi and Arnold Schwarzenegger re CAFE standards etc., Nancy + Arnie terminate Dingell's preemption perversity, covers J. Ding; and wife Debbie's defeat in persuading DNC Dean to be her deferent doormat (thus leading to the result of Mich being stripped of its delegates), is in various diaries today, but see especially greee's comment linking to photos of the defeated dinosaur-Detroit-automaker doyenne Debbie D in her abjection at Dean's DNC today. Sad. Very sad. And utterly her own fault, despite months of warnings.
After these Dingell dual disasters, Michigan can hopefully be persuaded to get new leadership faster (in the 15th District Congressperson position and the Michigan DNC Committeeperson position), shed the corruption, and get out of its mess faster. Sail on!!
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.
Dems try to settle primary: National party chairman works with state to resolve date dispute
FARMINGTON HILLS -- The nation's top Democratic Party official said Sunday he believes the state and national parties can work out a solution to the sometimes bitter standoff over Michigan's Jan. 15 presidential primary.
"Whatever differences there are, we continue to work to see if there's a solution," said Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, before a fundraising dinner for Oakland County Democrats. "There are ways of working this out."
All I can say is wow. The Phil Hart Dinner was FANTASTIC. Howard Dean was our keynote speaker and was great. I will have video tomorrow. Too tired to post now.
Spike, one of the hosts of Mojo in the morning was a great emcee. The gov made an appearance, John Cherry was there, James and Janet Blanchard, Sander Levin arrived a little late, it was just a fantastic evening, plus we packed the hall with almost 400 Democrats that are excited and energized to go to work for Democratic victories in 2008 to take back the White House and even bigger majorities in the House and Senate. More Michigan House and Senate victories are on the way too, once we get past this nasty budget battle. The governor was great. I love the gov. Thanks to Jayne Hamilton of the Oakland County Democratic Party Publicity and Communications Committee for her tireless work, and the rest of the committee. It all paid off tonight. Look for stories in the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News in the morning.
Governor Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, will speak on Monday, Oct. 29 at 9:15 a.m. in the Haworth Inn and Conference Center at 225 College Ave. on the campus of Hope College in Holland, Mich. Dean will be addressing the issue of faith and politics. He is being hosted by the Hope College Democrats, a student-run organization. The Governor's presentation will be followed by a question and answer session.
"We are very excited to have Governor Dean coming to Hope to speak on the role of faith in Democratic politics," Hope Democrats President, Brian Straw ('08) of Arlington, VA said. "This is an event that has been in the works since this past spring, and we hope it will be a big success."
The event is open to Hope College students, faculty and staff. Doors will open at 8:30 a.m.
Two of three leading Democratic presidential nominees have removed their names from the Jan. 15 Michigan presidential primary. U.S. Sen. Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards both filed paperwork to have their names withdrawn minutes ago with the Michigan Secretary of State's office. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson sent a letter yesterday, also asking to be taken off the list. Today is the deadline for candidates to have their names removed. Michigan Democrats were under pressure from the national party to disavow the state's recent move to push the primary ahead of both the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary in violation of party rules. The big question now is whether Sen. Hillary Clinton, the frontrunner among Democrats, will join the others and remove her name from the ballot. It wasn't immediately clear whether Michigan Democrats would now switch to their original plan to hold a caucus on Feb. 9. ...
Indeed. (And see my own 9/10/07 Daily Kos diary Barack, John, Hill: take your names off Fla./Mich. ballots!; not that that makes me a prophet, but...) If Mark Brewer can't change the plan and have a February 9 caucus, perhaps he should consider resigning from office. He messed up seriously by caving in and supporting the rulebreaking early primary plan that defied the whole DNC and Howard Dean. (See my earlier diaries on this) How does he look now? And how do John and Debbie Dingell look? And, I must say, Jennifer Granholm and Andy Dillon, who were seduced by Mike Bishop into defying their own party's National Committee primary schedule? I hope this all teaches the MDP a serious lesson; part of which is that they have done a terrible, terrible job for the Democrats, and the people, of Michigan. (Including wasting time on the early primary nonsense, rather than getting ready for the budget battle with the Republicans...) Thanks to Barack, John, and Bill for upholding the integrity of the DNC primary process.
(Note: as I'm completing this, I see the story's been frontpaged, http://michiganliber... . My commentary is something I want put up, though, so here we are.)
The Oakland County Democratic Party and
Honorary Chairs Jim and Janet Blanchard cordially invite you to The 47th Annual Phil Hart Dinner
with special guest and keynote speaker Democratic Party Chairman Governor Howard Dean
Tim Dinan Community Service Award Recipient
Kary Moss, Executive Director, ACLU Michigan
Master of Ceremonies
Spike from The Mojo in the Morning Show on Channel 955
Special Honorees
2007 Precinct Delegates of the Year
Sandy Burgess and Phil Reid
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Dinner and Program at 7:00 PM
follows 6:00 PM Sponsors and Hundred Club Receptions
"Florida Democrats, unable to work out a compromise to avoid harsh sanctions imposed by the Democratic National Committee, appear ready to give in and declare the Jan. 29 presidential primary meaningless. While state party officials insist no ''consensus'' has been reached on what the party should do, there is a growing recognition that within the next week Democrats will announce a plan that renders the primary vote nonbinding in order to comply with national party rules. Florida Democrats will instead decide some time after Jan. 29 which presidential candidate is the winner of the state's delegates to the national convention. ... ''The positive thing about this is reality may finally be setting in at the party that delegates will not be selected on the 29th of January and if we want to have delegates we need to have an alternate plan,'' said Allan Katz, a Tallahassee attorney and member of the Democratic National Committee. ..."
Good. I'm glad Howard Dean and the DNC stuck to their guns.
There's another state Democratic party I could think of, that should be taking the same lessons fast. At least when they're done with the budget mess: a mess that got exacerbated by wasting time to declare a rulebreaking "early primary" in the first place.
I'd thought of the idea that Dem presidential contenders maybe should request withdrawal of their names from the Michigan ballot, but it looks like they may've thought of it first; see Freep, Michigan fuels a political revolution,
"...some of the candidates -- including former Sen. John Edwards, who has invested heavily in building early momentum in Iowa and New Hampshire -- were said to be considering upping the ante by withdrawing their names from the Michigan primary ballot. Edwards campaign director David Bonior of Michigan didn't respond immediately to queries about his candidate's plans. But if one or more of the top contenders drops out, Michigan's Jan. 15 primary could quickly deteriorate into an insignificant sideshow. ...But [Carl] Levin said it was "inconceivable" that any Democratic candidate would do "something as self-destructive as taking their name off the primary ballot. ... In [a] letter, Levin and [Debbie] Dingell argued that it was New Hampshire -- not Michigan -- that first violated party rules by moving its primary from Jan. 22 to sometime before Jan. 19 in a "transparent effort ... to maintain its privileged position of going immediately after Iowa. ..." Levin said Michigan could revert to its original Feb. 5 primary date, but only if New Hampshire backs off its jump. ..."
So, if NH goes 3 days before it should, then Mich can go...3 WEEKS before it should? Oy. --Note, though, how Carl Levin gives wiggle room for Michigan to cave completely. Astute, if belated. With a pathetic little "rebellion" like Michigan is mounting against the DNC and Howard Dean, no wonder Levin wants an out.
Not even discussing related issues like primarying John Dingell out of office: I hope the presidential candidates remove their names from the rulebreaking Michigan primary ballot as soon as possible. It's actually good for Michigan, in the long run, since people will be taught that you can't win by cheating.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean spoke in Rosemont, IL during the annual Labor Day weekend gathering of the Islamic Society of North America, along with several other prominent Democrats. Doctor Dean's speech, encouraging members of our Islamic society to think of politics beyond voter registration drives was very relevant to our large Islamic population here in Michigan:
"You need to run for political office," Dean said Saturday. "The only way you can achieve your goals is to stand up and say who you are and be proud of it."
Those in the packed house rose to their feet and applauded.
Dean was one of several prominent Democrats on Saturday to address the nation's largest gathering of American Muslims. Republicans declined invitations, organizers said.[emphasis mine]
The annual Labor Day weekend gathering of the Islamic Society of North America is expected to draw up to 40,000 Muslims before it ends Monday.
It's a family event full of spiritual and educational seminars. Saturday, many Muslims found inspiration from politicians.
"Be heard. Don't be silent. Tell it like it is," said Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress.
"If you don't tell your story, someone else will. And you may be the villain in their story," the Minnesota Democrat said.
Ellison, too, received a standing ovation.
While Muslims are changing America's religious landscape, they're being encouraged to find their political voice, too.
"There are people who want to see Muslims not only at the table but on the ticket," said Malik Mujahid, president of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, which sponsored the "Take Back America Rally" involving Dean.
