Per diary suggestions, I am posting my comment as a diary!!!
If you go and you are from out of town....
ubetcha means yes. er no means they are asking a question. yah means yes.
-the locals know everyone, especially the town hall types. There are 13,000 people in town. You will stand out like a sore thumb. Be prepared to be called a carpetbagger, meddler, leftist, liberal, commie, etc...... be nice about it. Its a big district. If you are crashing it, know something about it. Stupak is known for controlling the access in his town halls, in the past doing things like call in town halls on public radio to avoid tea partiers. Get there early, early, early to get a seat. Be respectful. Bay College is a cool place. Hybrid Community College and Vocational Institute.
-Stupak is a former Escanaba Police Officer. He has friends. The jail here is not nice. Behave yourself.
-compliment him on one thing: the environment. He is a leader on Great Lakes Protection. other than that, let him have it.
-for a nice dinner: The Stone House. For a cheap meal: Elmers. For great pizza: Muellers, downtown. Check out the lake front and ludington park. There are always cheap rooms in town, also at the Island Casino, 10 miles out of town. Very nice place.
-here is the local paper: www.dailypress.net. very conservative. read letter to editor and editorials. know thine enemy. you will be portrayed as they would like you to be..... dont give them ammunition by being stupid or unnecesarily in anyones face. It will not help.
-the local high school is the eskymos, NOT the eskimos.
-/Stupak is in hot water here from both sides. The GOP already hates him. And now he has lost the left. The area is older and increasingly conservative. They love Rush. This district WILL swing GOP unless the dems seriously reconsider what they are up against. He is trying to be GOP lite, but is a very conservative catholic, appealing to not only C-street but a very religious, catholic area.
-Stupak has been rumored to be a candidate for MI governor, possibly opening this seat up. The local dems could REALLY use a boost if you are in town. Local leader is Bill Charon. carolecharon@charter.net. Let him know how you feel about Stupak.
-LET THIS BE AN ORGANIZING EVENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please!!!! The local dems are poorly organized. If there are progressives that make it here, can we PLEASE make it a seed group of progressives? We need to build the party from the base in rural areas such as this, just as we did in NC, VA, etc...... we need to continue to fight the GOP everywhere to keep the pressure on them. If we lose the rural north and east in congress, we will lose congress. The most pressure the dems will get will be in districts just like this, and its because candidates like Stupak have never been challenged in primaries to defend their votes. But a primary challenge WILL BE shot down by local dems who see things in a very short term way with very small, slow measured ways of thinking. It will not work anymore. For all intensive purposes, Stupak is as democratic as Nixon. If we want to find a real Dem to represent the future of this area, now may be the time to start the search, at events such as this. When I was a kid, the economy here was booming. its bust now. If progressives can craft their message to appeal to areas like this that have been getting the shaft since Reagan, they will win.
-LETS FIND THE LEMONADE IN THIS LEMON OF A REPRESENTATIVE!!!! Organize!!! I know nothing about building databases. Can anyone help set up one for this district?