On the coldest day so far this winter, about 250 protestors assembled in front of the Michigan Capitol building on Monday, December 19, to demonstrate our opposition to the Electoral College’s expected vote on behalf of Donald Trump for the 45th president of the United States. We were a small but spirited crowd, some braving the frigid temperature long enough to gain access to the interior of the Capitol (which I did not do). A number of local activists spoke briefly to exhort us to continue to resist the expected malfeasance of the Trump Administration. And then, not surprisingly, the 16 Republican electors for Michigan all voted for their preferred candidate.
That was but one of several significant news items for our state this week. Also in the news:
- Two of the Emergency Managers for Flint, Darnell Earley and Gerald Ambrose, were charged with several criminal offenses related to the Flint Water Crisis. If convicted, they face sentences of over 40 years.
- Unemployed Michigan Workers are the latest targets of Republican pillaging schemes. See this post by m2c4 from earlier today for details.
- Michigan Senator Gary Peters listed a number of factors contributing to Clinton’s loss here, in an interview published in Vox. TomP posted a story about this yesterday, but there are two excerpts I’d like to stress that TomP did not.
The one thing that definitely was lacking, though, was a clear and consistent message. Their argument was primarily that Donald Trump didn't have the temperament to be commander in chief, and how could you support a guy who said all the horrible things that he did? Which was all accurate, and it's true; I don't understand how people can support someone given the way he conducted his campaign. But you have to have more than a negative message. You also have to have some very positive, aspirational message, and that was not as strong as it should have been in Michigan. [snip]
It's important to note that he won by 10,700 votes, which is a pretty narrow margin. In Michigan, we have roughly 6,800 precincts. That means he got a little more than one vote per precinct [more] than she did. If 5,000 people had changed their minds, it would have gone the other way. [emphasis added]
I don’t know about you, but from what I’ve seen in Michigan politics for the past several elections, positive messaging has been in very short supply. We need to have all three components for political success, namely a strong message, solid candidates, and effective persuasion — including personal contact with everyone we can possibly reach — if we are going to reverse the trend here in 2018.
So, toward that end, let’s start to organize ourselves. There are two upcoming events to consider for January; one important deadline early next month; one major Democratic meeting in February.
#NeverMyPresident demonstration in Lansing: Saturday, January 21, 2017
Who plans to be here in Michigan over Inauguration Day weekend? If you can make it to Lansing for the big local demonstration planned on January 21st, please JOIN US and march behind a Daily Kos banner! It’s fun and energizing to take part in protests with friends, even friends you have just met. Let us know in the comments if you think you can participate.
Motor City Kossacks meet-up: late January or early February (see poll for possibilities)
We’ll decide on a location after we set a date.
Michigan Democratic Party Spring Convention: Saturday, February 11, 2017, Cobo Center, Detroit
MDP Caucuses and Congressional District meetings take place at the convention, along with votes for Caucus Chairs, District Officers, and the state Committees. Only members of the Michigan Democratic Party may vote — and unless you are an elected official (which does include, by the way, Precinct Delegates) then you must be a member 30 days in advance of the meeting in which you wish to cast a vote. Thus the MDP membership deadline for most people is January 12. Please visit the MDP website for more information.
We have a lot to do, Michigan, to make up for our role in handing the presidency to the vulgar talking yam. I’m ready, and I hope you will join me.
This is probably my favorite sign from Monday’s demonstration. Let’s start planning now what signs we’ll create and carry on the 21st of next month.
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