That's right! Ready or not, 2016 is coming! In the Detroit area, we already have three points of contact for two announced candidates.
For Bernie Sanders: You'll want to contact Mike Witte - a Bloomfield/Birmingham area Democrat who's Sanders' point man in at least Oakland County, although I'm sure he could help you find local organizers for Sanders. I don't have his contact info right now, but I'll update this post later with the info. (Update - I'm still searching guys! Sorry)
For Hillary Clinton: Here, I have a bit more news. Hillary's point-man for Michigan is Ben Gardner, a Detroit organizer and current state director IIRC, who can be reached at michiganorganizing@hillaryclinton.com. In addition, I believe DNC committeewoman Jill Alper will be aiding the Clinton effort in Michigan (not in her capacity as a DNC committeewoman, obviously).
Speaking of Jill Alper, she came by an OCDP meeting to talk about how we can recover from the midterm defeats of '14. What she gave to us was a DNC document detailing the ways in which our party lost in 2014, and how we can improve in 2016. Oh, excuse me, did I say detail? I meant to say she gave us half a page of barebones analysis, if any.
But it does open up an interesting question. What should the MDP's priority be for the coming election? For me, I would argue that the big issues should be:
1) Candidate training
2) Pushing ballot initiatives (when they can)
3) Running the coordinated effort (properly, this time, as opposed to '14).
But I know I'm just skimming the surface of what we might need to do. What do think the MDP should focus on in the coming cycle (or in the long term)? Specific races? Broad strategies?
As usual, the floor is yours....