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Members 
Fri Jan 13, 2006 at 01:29:06 AM EST
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There are three basic sponsorship rates available; by the day for $15, by the week for $80, or by the month for $300. Those rates are based on the basic costs to maintain the site, plus provide a very small stipend for the site administrator that helps him pay his rent. There are four easy payment methods for you to choose from:
1. Use your credit card online!
If you have a credit card, the easiest way to become a Michiganliberal.com sponsor is to use our Paypal payment system. Please note: you do not need to be a Paypal member or use an pre-existing Paypal account to pay for a sponsorship. Just make sure you click where it says: "If you do not currently have a PayPal account."
Also, note that PayPal is unable to handle payments in excess of $2,000. Finally, please remember to indicate whether or not you'd like to remain anonymous.
2. Telephone
Call us at 989-953-4129 (9-5, Mon-Fri) and tell us how much you'd like to pay. We'll send you a bill. Leave a message, please keep harsh language to a minimum.
3. Email
Send an email to ebaerren@michiganliberal.com and include your name, address, phone number, amount you'd like to pay, and whether you want to be anonymous or not. We'll then send you a bill through the mail.
4. Snail mail
Just send your check directly (and tell us if you want to be anonymous or not) to:
Michiganliberal.com
319 S. Oak St. Apt. A
Mt. Pleasant, MI 48858
Please note: Michiganliberal.com is a for-profit business. We looked at becoming non-profit, but it would have been really difficult and we didn't have the money to spend on a team of lawyers to set the whole thing up. Unfortunately, your membership payment is not tax-deductible. Maybe someday it will be.
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Fri Jan 13, 2006 at 01:18:51 AM EST
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Maybe you enjoy the commentary. Maybe you enjoy the community. Maybe you enjoy the occasional shouting matches. Or, maybe you just think that the site offers an important resource. What do you need money for?
No one is going to get filthy stinking rich doing this. However, those of us who administrate the site are finding that we do spend quite a lot of time working on it - doing things like programming, research, news analysis, writing posts, and maintaining our political library of over 150 "mini-blogs" dealing with Michigan elected officials. As Michiganliberal.com gets busier, this workload gets heavier and heavier.
Your sponsorship helps to cover the costs of bandwidth, and also provides a very small amount of income for Eric Baerren, the guy responsible for administering this site. In fact, he uses money from this site to pay his rent.
By sponsoring Michigan Liberal, you'll help the site grow and realize its full potential as an information source for our state's liberal, progressive, and Democratic community. For instance, here are just a few really neat new things we'd like to do:
- Updated feature/profile sections for all the Michigan elected positions
- More investigative and in-depth reporting.
- More comprehensive legislative analysis.
- More candidate interviews.
- Recruit and supervise correspondents in different areas of the state.
- Pay lawyers and accountants to help keep us from getting into trouble.
Who owns Michiganliberal.com?
Michiganliberal editor Eric Baerren is the primary stakeholder. Eric is very frugal, uses a bicycle to get around, and has his fingers in the pies of several elements of the progressive movement.
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Fri Jan 13, 2006 at 01:22:04 AM EST
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What do I get if I become a sponsor?
1. A really great online community where you can find out interesting things about what your elected officials are up to.
2. Your name at the top, right of the site for the duration of your sponsorship. You may also embed a link off-site in your name*. For example, if you are part of a legislative campaign, you may link to the candidate's Web site through your sponsorship link.
3. Your name included in an ongoing list of sponsors and dates of sponsorship. *--Usual, common sense restrictions apply.
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Sun Jan 15, 2006 at 15:57:05 PM EST
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The following sponsors have generously helped the lights stay on at Michigan Liberal: Michigan education Association (June 9-20) Andy Dillon for Governor (May 1-31, 2010) On behalf of A Better Michigan Future's Tax Loophole of the Week (April 28, 2010) On behalf of A Better Michigan Future's Tax Loophole of the Week (April 21-22, 2010) Anonymous (April 20, 2010) On behalf of David Leyton for Attorney General (April 12-18, 2010) On behalf of A Better Michigan Future's Tax Loophole of the Week (April 8, 2010) Richard Bernstein for Attorney General (April 5-7, 9-11, 2010) On behalf of David Leyton for Attorney General (April 2-4, 2010) On behalf of A Better Michigan Future's Tax Loophole of the Week (April 1, 2010) On behalf of Virg Bernero for Governor (March 29-31, 2010) To thank Bart Stupak for his healthcare vote (March 26, 2010) On behalf of A Better Michigan Future's Tax Loophole of the Week (March 27, 2010) To thank Mark Schauer for his healthcare vote (March 24, 2010) In special birthday tribute for Brady (March 23, 2010) College Democrats at Central Michigan University (March 17-22, 2010) Marlinga for State Senate (March 1-16, 2010) Lonnie Scott for State Representative (Feb. 22-28, 2010) TalkLansing.net (Feb. 15-21, 2010) Old Foresters (Feb. 12, 2010) Two Guys named Joe (Jan. 25-Feb. 8, 2010) Saginaw Area Democratic Club (Jan. 18-24, 2010) Thomas Batten for 61st District (Jan. 11-17, 2010) On behalf of the Dream Act of 2009 (Nov. 16, 2010) On behalf of Pure Michigan (Dec. 14-20, 2009) Toni Sessoms for State Representative 99th District (Dec. 7, 2009-Jan. 7, 2010) On behalf of the Dream Act of 2009 (Dec. 6, 2009) i3 Strategies (Nov. 17-Dec. 3, 2009) On behalf of the Dream Act of 2009 (Nov. 16, 2009) On behalf of the Upper Peninsula Sportsmen's Alliance (Nov. 12-15, 2009) On behalf of Big Dog Entertainment (Nov. 7-8, 2009) On behalf of Clean Water Action (Oct. 28-Nov. 4, 2009) On behalf of Susan J. Demas (Oct. 23-25, 2009) On behalf of Jocelyn Benson for Sec. of State (Oct. 19-22, 2009) Eclectablog (Oct. 15, 2009) Anonymous (Oct. 14, 2009) J. Lee Harris (Oct. 12-13, 2009) Main Street Strategies (Oct. 5-11, 2009) Rachel Ann Foster (Oct. 4, 2009) Julie Powers (Oct. 1, Oct. 2, Oct. 3 2009) Eric Baerren (Sept. 30, 2009) Garnet Lewis (Sept. 29, 2009) Brady Schinkinger (Sept. 28, 2009) Two Guys named Joe (Sept. 21-27, 2009)
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Sun Jan 22, 2006 at 14:04:54 PM EST
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Click here to become a Michiganliberal.com member!
Latest total: $1,821
Today's goal: $3,000
Overall goal (by Sun.): $3,000
New members:
Larry Grewe, Troy
Äny Salyer, Troy
BASIC MEMBER PLEDGE LEVEL: $25
Remember - our basic membership level is $25, however we'll certainly accept whatever you're able to pay or whatever you think the serivce is worth to you. You can pay online with a credit card, through the mail, e-mail, or via telephone.
If you're reading this site, you know what an important political year 2006 will be. Becoming a member ensures that Michiganliberal.com is able to bring you important news, analysis, reference information, and discussion during this pivotal time.
We do have a ways to go to meet our $3,000 goal. But with a last minute surge, we can at least make some significant progress. It starts with you. Please, click here now to become a member.
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Sat Jan 21, 2006 at 16:11:51 PM EST
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Click here to become a Michiganliberal.com member!
Latest total: $1,729
Today's goal: $2,000
Overall goal (by Sun.): $3,000
New members:
Maryscott O'Connor, Traverse City (okay...I know she's in CA...but we'll get her to finally come home one of these days!)
Charles Gaba, Berkley
Anthony Marsala, Lansing
BASIC MEMBER PLEDGE LEVEL: $25
Onward & upward,
M
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Fri Jan 20, 2006 at 14:18:42 PM EST
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REMINDER: Don't forget to become a member on this, the final weekday of Michiganliberal.com's first-ever membership campaign!
"What hath God wrought?"
-Numbers 23:23, transmitted by Samuel Morse as the first telegraph message between Washington, DC and Baltimore on May 24, 1844
I just put in my two weeks notice. I'm cutting my day job back to half time so that I can become a semi-professional blogger. This is possible because of your support during this membership drive (which lasts until Sunday, BTW! Click here to become a member!) Thanks to you, my dream is now becoming reality.
It's been a whirlwind ride. A year ago, I told my boss, Mark Grebner, that I was going to start a political blog. "Oh, you've got a new hobby" he said - as a means of poohing-poohing the idea that something like this could ever be financially viable. Having known Mark for several years - and having worked FOR him for over a year now, I know that he's almost always right. But on this point I'm making it my mission in life to prove him wrong. And I think I will. For me, today, Michiganliberal.com is no longer just a hobby.
So what is this about - this blogosphere, this new and mysterious medium? It's a big day here at Michiganlib - for me anyway - so let's talk about it. Here, for your consideration, is the crude first draft of my manifesto.
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Fri Jan 20, 2006 at 10:12:58 AM EST
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Click here to become a Michiganliberal.com member!
Latest total: $1,399
Today's goal: $2,000
Overall goal (by Sun.): $3,000
New members:
Nancy Bosak
Geoffrey Fieger, Bloomfield Hills (candidate for Michigan Attorney General)
BASIC MEMBER PLEDGE LEVEL: $25
With your help, we CAN make our $2,000 goal for today, as well as meet our $3,000 membership drive goal by Sunday. If you want a vibrant, active, and well-run online community during this important election year, the time to click, dial, or mail is now.
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Thu Jan 19, 2006 at 17:37:53 PM EST
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Over the last few weeks, I’ve become accustomed to asking people for money, as my position as Chair of the Michigan Progressive Party demands. That said, this particular method is foreign to me so I apologize from the start.
As the 2004 election approached, I had no conception of a blog or what a blog was. Despite their best efforts to track the growing trend, NPR was unable to convince me that a blog was anything but a funny word. Losing the election that year was bad thing, but when all the papers were plastered with headlines like “Mandate!†or “Landslide!†I just wasn’t feeling right. I put off dealing with it for weeks, but over that winter break, I decided to look past the media and find out what had gone wrong.
What I found was pretty astonishing. Daily Kos, a whole world of people who talked and thought the right way. People who understood that running to the center meant running for your mommy. I had finally stumbled across the netroots and I couldn’t get enough.
All politics is local and I was learning a bunch about Washington without learning anything about Lansing. Around March 2005, there was a big push by a couple big-wigs (bloggers of course) to increase the number of blogs focused on state issues. Since there were no Michigan blogs to be found, I started one, Michigan Politics.
The amount of time I spent crunching numbers, reading backwoods papers, site development and posting content was made possible only by my light class schedule that semester, which included floaters like Italian and physics. After a summer hiatus and Paul Hackett’s nail biter, I returned to blogging full swing and with big plans. Then came school.
A full load of tough classes is tough, but if you throw in 3 hours of blogging a day, things start to get dicey. I realized at that point that there was no way I could accomplish what I wanted to do on my own. I jumped my own Halloween ship (check it out) and headed to bluer pastures.
I know beyond a shadow of doubt that Michigan Liberal can become the powerful tool that progressives in Michigan need if they are going to succeed. Whether it is by creation and refinement of winning issues, questioning the traditional media, keeping our elected officials straight, connecting people from around the state, coordinating resources and ground forces or keeping outsiders inside the loop, Michigan Liberal can do a whole hell of a lot of good.
But it’s not easy and it’s not free. Blogs are the tool that will destroy the current status quo. Blogs are the muscle that will pull back with the debate shifts to the right. Blogs are the voice that no corporate editors can silence.
It really isn’t free though. I wish it were, but all of us have to eat food and sleep with a roof over our heads. Michigan Liberal wants to grow, but it needs you to help it along.
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Thu Jan 19, 2006 at 15:15:05 PM EST
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Welcome to our newest Michiganliberal.com member, Michigan Attorney General candidate Geoff Fieger!
Thanks for your support, Geoff. On another note, congrats on getting Mike Cox off your back - and good luck with the Bushies.
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Thu Jan 19, 2006 at 14:35:24 PM EST
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Click here to become a Michiganliberal.com member!
Latest total: $1,145
Today's goal: $2,000
Overall goal (by Sun.): $3,000
New members:
Tim Jarrell, Walled Lake ( Candidate for State Rep., HD038)
Cathleen Carrigan, Grand Rapids
BASIC MEMBER PLEDGE LEVEL: $25
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Thu Jan 19, 2006 at 11:13:56 AM EST
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(Ooh! A CHALLENGE by jmgear! Will somebody take him up on it? $120 or $10 a month! That's all it will take! (click here to become a member)Tx, jmgear! - promoted by matt)
One reason to support MichiganLiberal is that we should always prefer media that is clear and open about its point of view, which is much better than media that pretends to have attained a phony objectivity that is really just a way of kowtowing to the current crooks in power.
Who does such a thing? That would be NPR and its Michigan affiliates, who heel over ever further to the right, propelled by an endless breeze of phony claims about NPR being part of the "liberal media" -- a method of attack that is amazingly effective, given that it is totally divorced from reality, given the NPR news and public affairs dept's total domination by corporate and conservative elites (and which is run by people from the government's propaganda agencies) -- not to mention NPR's slavish dependence on corporate "underwriting" that is increasingly impossible to distinguish from advertising. Funny how little you hear about the crimes of Big Pharma on NPR, so well supported by Merck ...
So, though I shouldn't, this reminder about the dearth of progressive local media causes me to make the following offer: I'll pitch in $10 a month to support MichiganLiberal.com if someone else contacts Matt and does the same.
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Thu Jan 19, 2006 at 08:06:04 AM EST
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Click here to become a Michiganliberal.com member!
Latest total: $1,010
Today's goal: $2,000
Overall goal (by Sun.): $3,000
New members:
Chris Lewless, Lansing
BASIC MEMBER PLEDGE LEVEL: $25
In case you missed it, our goal for this membership drive is to raise $3,000 by the end of Sunday. It should be no surprise that our readership typically shrinks quite a bit over the weekend, so we really need to make some extra magic happen today and tomorrow. For today, let's shoot for $2,000. Remember, you can buy your membership online, over the phone, through the mail, or via e-mail. Whatever works best for you.
Again, you can click here to find out everything you need to know.
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Wed Jan 18, 2006 at 17:52:23 PM EST
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Click here to become a Michiganliberal.com member!
Latest total: $1,010
New members:
1 anonymous
1 awaiting confirmation of identity status
See, when I came up with the idea for doing this I wanted to have a goal, but having never done an online "public radio-style" membership campaign, I had no idea what was possible with something like this. Well, now we know.
So...drumroll please...as of right now, our overall goal for this drive is $3,000 by Sunday evening. We can do this. But we're going to need you to help.
Can't afford to buy a membership? Here's something you can do: write a diary entry and "testify" about why you think Michiganliberal is just the greatest thing ever and why people who do have the means should support it. I can continue to write pitch after pitch...but I'd much rather have a few other folks helping. More importantly, it would probably make for better reading, better persuasion, and...more $$$.
Onward and upward!
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Wed Jan 18, 2006 at 11:20:23 AM EST
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Click here to become a Michiganliberal.com member!
Latest total: $935
New members:
Rhonda Ross, Royal Oak
K. Smith
The membership drive is getting close to the halfway point and we still have yet to crack $1,000. That is not good. Unless something changes very soon, we're going to have to declare this experiment a failure. I can hear the Republicans sharpening their knives now.
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Tue Jan 17, 2006 at 11:49:35 AM EST
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Click here to become a Michiganliberal.com member!
Latest total: $910
New members:
Terrance Baulch, Ann Arbor
Paul Massaron, Southfield
Lynn Jondahl, Okemos
Bob Busch, Rosebush
It's Coming 3/5/05
An Open Letter to Governor Granholm 5/1/05
Michigan House '06 - Part 1 6/19/05
Michigan House '06 - Part 2 6/21/05
Michigan House '06 - Part 3 6/22/05
Book Review - "Phil Hart: Conscience of the Senate" - 6/30/05
Interview with Rich Robinson (Michigan Campaign Finance Network) - Part 1 7/18/05
Interview with Rich Robinson (Michigan Campaign Finance Network) - Part 2 7/19/05
Interview with Rich Robinson (Michigan Campaign Finance Network) - Part 3 7/20/05
Wal-Mart and Michigan's congressional delegation 8/15/05
Welcome to the ownership society 9/2/05
Alan Fox on the Michigan Senate, 2006 9/12/05
From East Lansing to Baton Rouge: Michlib'er gives a look inside Katrina's wake 9/23/05
"Emergency plan" for the Governor 10/2/05
Time for some soap 10/4/05
Outlook 2006: Michigan's U.S. House delegation 10/7/05
A train ride across Michigan 10/9/05
Another place called Hope 10/15/05
My thoughts on the Detroit Mayoral election 10/24/05
John Edwards on Michigan's troubles 11/2/05
State Republicans cite Michlib 11/7/05
Dear Mayor Kilpatrick, 11/9/05
My Coxgate mea culpa 11/12/05
You heard it here first! 11/15/05
Michlib cited in the Lansing State Journal 11/23/05
Mark Grebner's revolutionary plan for Michigan 11/28/05
Knollenberg takes $7,000 from implicated bribe-givers 11/29/05
A perspective on the Ten Commandments debate 11/30/05
Give the money back already! 12/1/05
Grandfather. Democrat. Union Man. Sore Loser.12/6/05
Okay Governor, what's plan B? 12/7/05
Michigan health care reform and the auto industry 12/9/05
Who's Running for the MI Legislature, Latest 12/12/05
U.S. Rep. Schwarz website mentions Michlib 12/12/05
Happy New Year, Michigan! 12/31/05
The attention race 1/3/06
More on George Weeks... 1/9/06
Michiganliberal.com membership drive: Jan. 15 - 22 1/13/06
If there's a post you thought was especially wonderful and worthy of mention, add it to the comments.
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Mon Jan 16, 2006 at 23:05:26 PM EST
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Tonight, as Martin Luther King Junior day draws to a close, I'm honored to be able to tell you that a man who actually marched and was jailed with Dr. King in Selma - has joined our public membership roster. That man is Lynn Jondahl.
I don't wish to embarass him, so I'll tell you only that as a former state legislator, clergyman, candidate for governor, and human being, Lynn is - in all likelihood - the man I respect and admire most in this town. I know I'm not the only one to hold this view.
A personal anecdote: Lynn was actually the guy who introduced me to political blogging in the first place! When I was first running for Congress two years ago, I met with Lynn at his office. While there, he happened to show me a couple of websites: TalkingPointsmemo, and DailyKos. Let's just say they piqued my interest. And the rest, of course, is history.
Thanks, Lynn for believing in us. It means more than I can say.
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Mon Jan 16, 2006 at 16:44:42 PM EST
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Click here to become a Michiganliberal.com member!
Latest total: $735
New members:
(we have a couple...but we still have to see if they want to be anonymous or not)
Haven't thought of a title yet. If you have any swell ideas, leave 'em in the comments.
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Mon Jan 16, 2006 at 12:17:31 PM EST
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Click here to become a Michiganliberal.com member!
Latest total: $610
New members:
Cindy Glovinsky, Ann Arbor
We'll close this membership update with a benediction from million dollar Southfield megapreacher (and Republican U.S. Senate hopeful) Rev. Keth Butler:
"There has been a deliberate move to move us away from God, away from the Judeo-Christian values that this country was founded on ... to make us more like the liberal left in Europe. I don't want to be like Europe, I've been there and their society is in a shambles."
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Sun Jan 15, 2006 at 17:55:19 PM EST
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Click here to become a Michiganliberal.com member!
Starting total: $260
New members:
Phil Reid, Clarkston
Janeen Rastall, Williamston
Ray Wert, Metro Detroit
Matt Ferguson, Lansing
(Imaginary studio audience cheers wildly.)
First of all – just to be clear - we don’t have any tote bags to give away. We are, however discussing the idea of making some T-shirts, bumper stickers, and/or coffee mugs (yes, I’ve looked at Café Press…they use a heat transfer process that doesn’t look so good, IMHO). Anyway, in order to do all of this, we need to sell some memberships…so buy yours today and stay tuned.
Why a “public radio-style†membership drive? Well, for one thing, I’ve been trying – though not very hard – to sell ads here for the past year, and hardly anyone is buying any. So we need to try something else.
My first real job during and after graduating from MSU was in public radio. Though I was never a great fundraising “pitcherâ€, I did become somewhat familiar with how the whole fundraiser thing works and the theory behind it. So…as Homer Simpson says, when in doubt: “go with what you know.†Hence the “public radio-style†bit.
I originally congratulated myself on coming up with the idea of mimicking a public radio fundraiser as a way to support a blog/community. But alas, I’ve been informed that Truthout.org has already done it. No matter. We’ll just have to settle for “first in Michigan – that we know of.â€
Here’s how it works: instead of having to sit through long, boring, and repetitive monologues about why you should “make your pledge of support nowâ€, you’ll simply find our creative exhortations stuck between the regular posts on Michiganliberal. One by one, we’ll go over the reasons why you should become a Michiganliberal.com member, and remind you that there are several different ways to become a member, and that you can find out all about it by clicking here.
BTW, If you have a good pitch or approach you think might work, feel free to put it in the comments, in a diary entry, or email it to matt@michiganliberal.com. By the end of the drive (one week from today) we should have our bases pretty well covered. We’ll provide updates along the way with how we’re doing, and who has lately joined the Michiganliberal.com membership roster.
So here we go. As I’ve written before, this week will determine what kind of community we’re going to have in 2006. With any luck (and with your support), we’ll blow their socks off. Oh, and in case you missed it the first five times: click here to become a member.
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