Democracy: use it or lose it
In a perfect confluence of democratic goings-on, I hereby dub May 5th, 2012 Democracy Day in Michigan. Two key events are happening that day. First, from 9 a.m. until noon, Democrats across the state will caucus to choose Barack Obama as their candidate for President of the United States.
Then, starting at 2 p.m., there will be a rally on the grounds of the State Capitol to kick-off the second attempt to gather enough signatures to put the recall on Governor Rick Snyder on the November ballot.
DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS INFORMATION
In addition to choosing our candidate for President, the caucuses give Michigan Democrats a chance to meet, discuss the election ahead, meet local candidates in an easy, conversational setting and to learn about the various ballot measures for petitions are currently being circulated. At some caucus sites, local candidates will give a brief speech about themselves. You’ll likely have petitions available to sign and you’ll get a chance to connect with other Democrats in your area.
Things will get started at 9 a.m. and the registration to vote at the caucus ends at 11 a.m. You must be 18-years old or older, registered to vote (or be eligible to vote in the November election and willing to pledge that you will register to vote by then) and in line by 11 a.m. to vote. You will be asked to sign a statement saying your are participating as a Democrat. Please bring an id of some sort (does not need to be a photo id.)
NOTE: YOU MUST GO TO THE SPECIFIC CAUCUS FOR YOUR AREA ONLY! You can find the caucus locations for every Congressional District (CD) in Michigan HERE. There are around 200 caucus sites around Michigan.
If you are a candidate or represent one of the various ballot initiatives/referendums and wish to participate in one or more of the caucuses in your area, contact the Democratic County Party Chair for your area right away. You can find that information HERE.
SNYDER RECALL KICK-OFF RALLY INFORMATION
The rally starts at 2:00 and thousands of people are expected to attend.
In fact, it’s essential that thousands of people DO attend. The huge rallies in Wisconsin galvanized the activists and volunteers there and we need to do the same here as we fight back against a conservative/corporate takeover of Michigan.
Please plan to attend and help spread the word throughout all of your networks.
Speakers include:
- John Nichols from The Nation magazine
- Tony Trupiano from the First Shift radio show – the Emcee for the rally
- Bruce Fealk from Michigan Rising
- Les Little from Hood Research
- Pat Selby, Director Project Vote Michigan
- Zachary Steve, President Young Dems of Michigan
- Stephanie Terpening, musician
- Mariah Schafsnitz & Paul Barton
- Sarah Lawrence, Poet and Activist
- Mark Boyd (Not Exactly Rick Snyder)
- Rev. Charles Williams, National Action Network
- Chris Savage from Eclectablog (me!)
Here’s the flyer for the event. Click on it for a full-size version.
NOTE: if you are unable to attend the event, you will be able to watch it live here at Eclectablog. The live-stream will begin at 2:00 p.m.
[CC image credit: batcula | Flickr]
