The last of the truly reasonable Michigan Republicans…

When I was just a lad and an aspiring activist, I volunteered for a group called “The Three O’Clock Lobby”. It was a youth-run, youth advocacy group and we endeavored to make sure the voice of young people was represented in policy-making, law-making, and government in general.

It was during my time there that I first met Governor William Milliken when I and another young person asked him to wear a button saying “I support youth participation” at a celebration of the International Year of the Child (this event is actually mentioned in the Wikipedia article.) Milliken was not only a really nice and sweet man, he was a listener and he was reasonable. Considered a moderate, a man with his approach to leadership and governance would have no home in the Republican Party today, especially not in Michigan. William Milliken was willing to compromise and there’s no compromising in today’s Republican Party.

Today, Professor Bridget McCormack, candidate for the Michigan Supreme Court, announced that she has received the endorsement of William Milliken. It’s a clear sign of where things are in Michigan today, politically-speaking.

More after the jump.

An excellent candidate interviewed by an excellent blogger

Ypsilanti blogger (and my good friend) Mark Maynard of the most-excellent MarkMaynard.com recently interviewed Dr. Syed Taj, candidate for Michigan’s 11th Congressional District. After Thaddeus McCotter resigned his seat in disgrace after his campaign staff engaged in egregious election fraud, Dr. Taj found himself in a race against Tea Party activist Kerry Bentivolio and white supremacist Daniel Johnson. Dr. Taj is an excellent Democrat and, with some good fortune and good Democratic turnout, is likely to be the next Congressman from MI-11.

After the jump, you’ll find Part 1 of Mark’s interview with Dr. Taj with a link to Parts 2 & 3.

Turning Michigan blue — shore to shore

The 79th State House District covers the area on the Lake Michigan coast of Michigan that includes Benton Harbor. It is currently represented by Al Pscholka, a former aide to Congressman Fred Upton, very good friend of Whirlpool and, most importantly, the original sponsor of the legislation that became Public Act 4, Michigan’s anti-democratic Emergency Manager law.

Jim Hahn is a progressive Democrats who is running against Al Pscholka and, though Berrien County is a fairly Republican area, he believes he can win.

I spoke to Jim over the weekend about his campaign. My interview after the jump.

Emergency Managers: they’re not just for black folks anymore

Since it became clear that Michigan’s Emergency Manager law — Public Act 4 — was disproportionately impacting majority African American communities, I have been warning that this was something that wasn’t likely to stay confined to those towns. In fact, I have written, it was likely going to take a majority white city staring down the barrel of state-appointed dictator — a viceroy, if you will — before non-African American Michiganders would start to take notice.

Attention, white Michiganders: it’s time to take notice.

Details after the jump.

A true advocate for those with the greatest need

When I arrived at the campaign office of State Supreme Court candidate Bridget Mary McCormack just south of Dexter, I found her Skyping into a house party meeting Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. She had just finished making her pitch to a room full of nearly two dozen potential supporters, who could be seen on the screen of her laptop, and was taking questions. When you’re running a statewide campaign for a position most people know little about and often ignore on the ballot, it’s this type of unconventional approach that could make the difference between who wins and loses the race for one of the three open spots on the Court. It’s also completely in line with the type of campaign that McCormack is running.

Click through for my interview with this terrific candidate and to find out more about her out of the ordinary campaign.

Hmmm…

UPDATED: I was unaware that a “No” vote on the repeal of Public Act 4 means that the law will NOT go back into effect. “No” is the desirable vote. I have edited accordingly. My apology for the error.

In what will be a huge disappointment to many progressives across Michigan, Democrats chose not to support a key ballot initiative at their convention this weekend. They will not be supporting the initiative to require 25% of our energy to be from renewable sources by 2025 (Proposal 3) but will be supporting the repeal of Public Act 4.

Details after the jump.

I’ll just sleep in mid-November…

Anne and I arrived home from the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC at about 11:30 p.m. Friday night. The next morning I was on the road at 6:30 a.m. to the Michigan Democratic Party’s State Convention which took place over two days this weekend at the Lansing Center in Lansing. Like me, there were a LOT of faded looking people there but, despite their weariness, Day One of the convention was a huge success; well-attended and with high energy.

Details with photos after the jump.

Gretchen Driskell embodies what Mark Ouimet pretends to be

As Democrats in Michigan attempt to retake control over the House of Representatives, one of the most closely-watched races is in the 52nd District, the area west of Ann Arbor. Long a Democratic stronghold, it went to Republican Mark Ouimet in the 2010 Republican wave. The 2010 races was pure gutter politics on the part of the Republicans who ran no fewer than five increasingly offensive and nearly slanderous robocalls against Democrat Christine Green.

This year, another Democratic woman will face the Republican smear effort in the 52nd — Saline Mayor Gretchen Driskell. Driskell is less a politician than she is a true public servant. As Saline’s first woman mayor and longest-serving mayor, she’s been on the front lines of making her community the kind of place where people want to be to raise kids, start a business and enjoy the city’s charm. She’s served the community for over 20 years spending six years on the city council and another 14 as mayor.

I sat down for an with Driskell this week to discuss her candidacy. Please click through for the interview.

This is NOT going away…

Republican State House Speaker Jase Bolger may want the story of his involvement in the biggest election fraud in memory in our state to go away, but it’s not. This week, leaders in the Michigan Democratic Party are calling for a one-person grand jury investigation into possible criminal behavior by the beleaguered and corrupt Republican.

More about this and Michigan Republicans continued support of Bolger after the jump.

This is what happens when you vote Republican

Today, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled against Democratic legislators and dismissed a case around unconstitutional use by the GOP of the “immediate effect” rule. As has been widely reported, including by Rachel Maddow (video and my previous coverage HERE), Republicans in the House have been implementing “immediate effect” on newly passed bills without a roll call vote. A ridiculous number of bills have been passed with less than two-thirds of the legislators voting for it. However, they go ahead and call for a voice vote and then instantly gavel it as passed, even though they need two-thirds of the lawmakers’ votes for that to happen.

Today, the three members of the Court of Appeals that heard the case voted to send the case back to the lower court with an order that they dismiss it. Their justification is that they can’t tell the Legislature what to do and House rules allow for a voice vote.

Thanks, Thad. Allow us to clean up this huge mess you left behind for you.

When last we left the Thad McCotter MI-11 Trainwreck, Republican Kerry “Reindeer Farmer/9-11 Truther” Bentivolio had $300,000 dumped into his pocket by a Ron Paul SuperPAC, while the Michigan GOP desperately tried to save face (and the House seat) by scrambling to run former state Senator Nancy Cassis as a write-in candidate.

Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, Dr. Syed Taj, Canton Township Trustee, former head of medicine at Oakwood hospital and all around good egg, could nary believe his good fortune by seeing his campaign–which was already solidly run and raising some decent money ($200K in the spring quarter)–suddenly go from a longshot against 5-term incumbent McCotter to reasonable odds (if still an underdog) in an unexpectedly open, and very confusing seat.

Well, there have been three major developments since then.

You’ll find them and more after the jump.