This is to report on a tremendous success for our side yesterday, August 13th. Rep. Mark Schauer (D) had planned a conference call health care town hall for that evening which went on as scheduled. Anyone who wished could participate in that town hall. Teabaggers planned a protest rally outside his office in Jackson for 4:30 p.m. Even Schauer's office is not clear who called for a counter rally, but OFA leaders were there and our local health care reform group was contacted to come at 3:30 p.m.
Ten people from our group (We have 300 active names in our health care reform group which we organized in May. We had less than 24 hours notice for a rally in the middle of the working day, so I think we did very well to get this many members organized.) went in two separate cars. There were at least 300 people there surrounding and protecting Schauer's office. Our numbers were overwhelming and dispersed within their ranks it was not possible to get an accurate count of the opposition. The majority of us were on the corner in front of Schauer's office, but all four corners of the intersection were dominated by health care supporters. I am being generous when I state there were about thirty teabaggers and conservative in my estimate of 300 supporters. Unfortunately, the sun was so blinding I couldn't really see what my iphone was doing, and I didn't get the video of the crowd and Schauer's speech to us. I did find the following short video on the Jackson Citizen Patriot web site:
In addition here is a private video from YouTube
For about an hour and a half we circulated in a circle in front of the corner where his office is located, effectively preventing the 30 teabaggers from getting anywhere close and cutting in to their time slot at 4:30. There were the usual swastika signs and a bunch of incoherent other messages from the teabaggers. We couldn't hear their chants clearly even when we were quiet.
Mark came out an addressed supporters at about 4. He said he had not declared support a any specific bill and that he would evaluate what they said before voting for them. Basically, there is no question that he supports good legislation, but like many of our Dems who are relatively quiet right now, he wants to see what is actually in the legislation before declaring his vote.
I would have to say our local group is taking the same position. Our mission statement is calling for an improved Medicare like program for all as that is what we see as the best solution. That does not mean we will oppose a public option that gives us much less; however, if the bills are watered down, you can bet we will actively demand that Obama not sign 'health care insurance reform.' We have three hundred members in our Mid-Michigan Coalition for Health Care reform.
A very sweet young man with a pre-existing condition which involved a rash on his torso asked us to write on his t-shirt, "I can't get health care. Pre-existing -- Ask Me."
There were many beautiful faces in the crowd. Old people who had the look of many, many campaigns for justice marked on their faces. Young people who were ready to take up the banner and run with it during their lifetime. Middle aged people who were just plain determined to get our side heard.
I did everything I could to get directly to the media. I talked to Jackson's local newspaper The Citizen Patriot and gave the reporter my card. This is a link to their web site report on the rally. It estimates the opposition at 100. That is possible as we left at 5 p.m.; however, it is highly unlikely in my opinion. We had at least 300 people there. I would not be surprised if the count was more like 500. I have some ability to do this sort of estimating as teaching at large institutions all my life has given me a good sense of what a crowd of a hundred, etc., looks like. I am absolutely positive that the teabaggers were not even close to a hundred at 5 p.m. That is a gross overstatement. We were standing cheek to jowl there for about a half and hour. Once again and totally predictably, the media utterly failed to report the true nature of our movement.
Here is The Citizen Patriot article.
Here is The Lansing State Journal report on the event. They also have a video on this page which would not embed.
The Lansing State Journal headline reads: "Schauer met with fiery demonstrations" which makes it look like there were enough fiery teabaggers there to make an effective counterpoint. There were not. The fire was all on our side, and it was the fire of righteous support for health care change. We were loud and intense for at least an hour and a half in the hot sun. Teabaggers did not take us on as they were overwhelmed.
Some of us engaged the teabaggers quite effectively. I was not in the mood although one of them asked if I lived in the district. My answer to her, "I'll swap Rogers for Schauer any day." She had no comeback and as I am short tempered right now I didn't want to risk pressing it further. I am just outside the district. I do not consider myself an outsider. Jackson is my backyard. It is part of the seventh district. Western Lansing is in the seventh district. The rest of Lansing and East Lansing are the eighth district held my Mike Rogers(R) who stands for everything rethuggish and who replaced Debbie Stabenow (D) when she became Senator.
Redistricting changed what is happening here.
The current 7th has no connection with the pre-1992 seventh congressional district. It is one of the districts that it is hardest to say what its pre-1992 ancestor was.
However, one proposed redistricting plan by Kossack pbratt would remove Mike Rogers or any Republican advantage, but could not be in place until 2010.
5th Congressional District (2008 Democratic Baseline of 60.8%). This is among the most reconfigured districts from its 2001 incarnation. While the current 5th district covers Genesee, Tuscola, and portions of Bay and Saginaw Counties, the new 5th includes Bay, Saginaw, Clinton, Shiawassee, and Ingham Counties. Much like the existing 5th District, it is a Democratic stronghold, but unlike the current 5th it steals the western half of Republican Mike Rodgers gerrymandered seat and restores its Democratic edge. This district combines the urban centers of Lansing, Saginaw, Bay City, and will be easily held by a Democratic candidate like Lasing Mayor Virgil Bernero or former Democratic Representative Jim Barcia. Good luck to any Republican running in this safe Democratic seat.
This would be possible according to this analysis by Kossack pbratt:
As 2010 approaches, it appears that the Democrats will likely control at least one leg of the redistricting chair. The 67 to 43 Democratic edge in the State House is likely to ensure that the Democrats will remain the majority party in the lower chamber. While the gubernatorial race remains an open contest, the Michigan Democratic Party has made a serious effort to recapture the State Senate, something which has not happened since the tax-revolt elections in 1984. Should the Democrats gain four seats (The current margin is 21 Republicans to 16 Democrats with one open seat), the Democrats will be in solid control of the redistricting process. Given that the Michigan State Supreme Court also has a Democratic majority it is likely that a reasonably drawn plan by a Democratic legislature adhering to MCL 3.61 would receive judicial sanction.
Two previous redistricting efforts have been made on the blosphere redraw Michigan's congressional districts. Both (rightly so) assume that Michigan will lose one congressional district after the 2010 Census. The first, drawn by Menhen and was first posted on the Swing State Project creates 11 safe Democratic seats and three Republican districts. The second, drawn by ArkDem, and also posted on the Swing State Project, that provides 10 Democratic seats with four Republican districts. With both redistricting plans are ingenious, and do an excellent job at screwing the GOP, both have some flaws that limit their usefulness. First, the vote analysis relies on the Presidential vote percentages from the 2008, which represents the strongest Democratic vote percentage in Michigan since Johnson's landslide in 1964. Obama's excellent performance should be viewed as a high watermark of the Democratic vote in 2008, as his opponent has effectively conceded the state in early October. Thus, Obama's decisive win in Michigan makes the state appears far more Democratic than it really is. Likewise, there is no examination of the Democratic performance in previous election cycles, which hinders a long-term analysis of how stable Democratic majorities are in the proposed Congressional Districts. Finally, voters tend to vote for the candidate for races on the top of the ballot (such as in the Presidential, Senate, and Gubernatorial races) that limits the effectiveness of using this data for determining the underlying partisan affiliation of a proposed district.
Some of the women in my group were every effective in engaging the teabaggers, pointing out that we were all Americans. Except for their message, the teabaggers were polite and there was plenty of police presence. I was mentally prepared for a ruckus and warned our group about safety issues.