The Eclectateam has landed

Anne and I have arrived at the Charlotte Convention Center and are attending an Obama campaign blogger briefing and we now have tonight’s schedule. Charlotte is a riot of activity and excitement. In addition to me being a delegate, Anne and I have DNC media credentials and have also gotten credentials to The PPL, a netroots-focused space. More information on that HERE.

In order to get our media credentials, we had to wait in line, get pre-credentials, wait in line again and the go through security then wait in line again and THEN we got our credentials.

My lanyard collection is getting silly:

If you’d like to watch to convention this evening online, you can do so after the jump and see highlights of this evening’s schedule, as well.

We’re all in this together

We Are the People Michigan is asking for volunteers for the Labor Day parade in Detroit. This is part of the effort to make sure the Protect Our Jobs ballot proposal passes in November and secures the right to collectively bargain in our state constitution.

If you are available, this is guaranteed to be a truly fun and rewarding day. You’ll meet amazing organizers, activists and passionate folks from the labor movement while you help make sure that the drive to crush our unions is stopped.

Details on how you can get involved in this fun and important effort after the jump.

It’s time to get this done

Now that the ballot initiative to make collective bargaining rights part of the state constitution has been ordered placed on the November ballot, it’s time for Democrats around the state to make sure it passes handily. As part of that effort, the Protect Working Families (formerly Protect Our Jobs) alliance is conducting forums across the state to ensure people are educated and engaged in making that happen.

This Thursday, August 30, 2012 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at the Ann Arbor Second Baptist Church, 850 Red Oak Road, one such forum is being held in Washtenaw County.

Details after the jump.

A side benefit of being in a swing state: you get ATTENTION!

This Thursday, August 23, 2012, the Obama campaign is hosting a special Women For Obama event at the Corner Brewery in Ypsilanti, Michigan at 5:00 p.m. The event will feature special guest Katherine Archuleta, Political Director of the Obama for America.

Other guests include State Senator Gretchen Whitmer, State Senator Rebekah Warren, DNC Member Debbie Dingell, Working America State Director Fran Brennan and State House candidate Gretchen Driskell.

Please RSVP for the event HERE.

More information and a printable flyer after the jump.

Hard to believe we STILL have to fight the War on Women

the Republican War on Women in full swing, including an anti-women Republican Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan, Planned Parenthood is launching a Women are Watching battleground state bus tour to educate and mobilize voters in 11 states over 17 days.

The tour with their iconic “Big Pink Bus” lands in Canton, Michigan TOMORROW, Tuesday, August 21, 2012. It’s no surprise. Women are under attack more profoundly in our state than in most others. Republicans in our state legislature are on a course to roll back nearly every gain in women’s reproductive freedoms that we’ve made.

Details after the jump.

Take my advice: do NOT miss this

This Thursday WEDNESDAY, August 22nd, 2012, Vice President Joe Biden will visit the metro Detroit area.

UPDATE: I now have further information about the event as well as updated information as to where to pick up tickets. See below. It is no longer necessary to go through me. Instead, you should go to one of the field offices as listed below (after the jump.)

After having watched the Vice President deliver a speech at the AFT convention a few weeks ago, I can say unequivocally that this is an event you will not want to miss.

“Being a teacher is not what I do, it’s who I am.” – Dr. Jill Biden

This past weekend, the American Federation of Teachers held what can only be described as an energizing, empowering and successful national convention in the Cobo Center in Detroit, Michigan. During the four-day event which concludes today featured such luminaries as Sandra Fluke (women’s reproductive rights activist) and Walmart plaintiff Betty Dukes (both of whom received AFT Women’s Rights awards), Diane Ravitch (education historian, writer), David Hecker (AFT Michigan), Charles Blow (New York Times op-ed columnist), Rev. Dr. Wendell Anthony (Detroit NAACP), Bob King (UAW), Karla Swift (Michigan AFL-CIO), Chris Michalakis (Metro Detroit AFL-CIO), U.S. Rep. Dale Kildee, Dr. Jill Biden and Vice President Joe Biden.

One of the highlights of the week was the keynote speech by AFT president Randi Weingarten who unveiled a new approach for AFT she dubbed “solution-driven unionism”. During her speech, Weingarten talked about the “new normal” facing Americans today in face of severe budget cuts jeopardizing public education, healthcare and other critical services; families losing more than 30 percent of their wealth during the economic crisis; and more than 100 bills introduced in state legislatures to demonize and attack public employees and undermine public services

Much more with lots of photos and quotes after the jump.

Via Progress Michigan:

Women Take Over the Capitol to Rally and Lobby Legislators on Wednesday

Hundreds of women will meet at the Capitol to share their vision for a better Michigan for women and make their voices heard with Michigan legislators.

Details after the jump.

Mission Partially Accomplished

Yesterday, I wrote about the March for Democracy and Freedom being organized by Rev. Charles Williams II and his group, National Action Network – Michigan Chapter. The march was modeled on the Selma to Montgomery civil rights marches of the mid-60s and was in protest of voter suppression legislation passed by Michigan Republicans as well as the anti-democratic Emergency Manager Law, Public Act 4.

Yesterday, Governor Snyder stunned the state by vetoing the three most egregious bills in the election reform package sent to him by the Republican legislators. Based on this, the march has been postponed.

Rev. Williams’ statement after the jump.

March for Democracy and Freedom in Michigan

UPDATE: This march has been cancelled. See my update HERE.

For five days later this month, July 23-27, the Michigan Chapter of the National Action Network will march from Detroit to Lansing along Grand River Avenue, to protest the egregious actions of Republicans in Michigan. From overreaching voter suppression laws to the Public Act 4 — Michigan’s anti-democratic Emergency Manager Law — activists from around the state are outraged by Republican efforts to disenfranchise Michigan voters.

An organizing meeting will take place this Saturday, July 7, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. at the Historic King Solomon Baptist Church in Detroit (6100 14th Street, Detroit.)

I spoke with Rev. Charles Williams II, president of the Michigan Chapter of NAN this afternoon. He told me that this march is modeled after the Selma to Montgomery march led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1965.

Corporations should not win elections

Last Friday, June 29, 2012, David Cobb from Move to Amend spoke to an energized crowd of about 100 Washtenaw/Ann Arbor-area activists about the corrosive influence of money and corporate personhood in our elections.

Photos from the event taken by Anne Savage after the jump along with information about how you can join our local group, Michiganders to Keep Big Money Out of Elections.