Don’t stop believin’… Back in February, I penned an essay titled Why I, as a dedicated and stalwart supporter of OFA, am asking you NOT to work with OFA in Michigan. In it, I implored Michigan Democratic activists to focus their attention solely on the task at hand: defeating Michigan Republicans at every juncture. It’s not going to be easy. […]

Will Michigan Republicans go after and punish counties now???

Last night, the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners ratified union contracts with union groups providing services to the County that stave off the effects of the recently-passed Right to Work law for ten more years.

More after the jump.

The choice is clear

Back in August, I published a piece about Fake Democrats running in Michigan. One of those Fake Democrats is the appropriately-named Jim Fink who not only admits to being a Republican but whose biggest campaign donor is, in fact, the Republican Party. If you go to Republican Party headquarters/offices in Washtenaw County, there you will find Jim Fink signs. He has made many donations to Republican candidates, is anti-Choice and against marriage equality and civil rights for the LGBT community.

Despite this, Jim Fink has vigorously sought the endorsement of the Washtenaw County Democratic Party (full disclosure: I am on the Executive Board of the WCDP as co-Vice Chair for Precinct Organizing.) He attended our conventions and meetings. He parked his car, covered with his campaign magnets, at the entrance to the parking lot at our events to make it look as if we supported him. He asked us to put his literature and yard signs at our campaign office in Ypsilanti. In short, this confirmed, right wing Republican did everything he could do to get the Democratic Party to use their resources to support him.

We did not.

What we DID do is endorse his opponent, Carol Kuhnke. In contrast to Fink’s dishonesty and questionable character, Kuhnke is a fantastic candidate. Smart, fair-minded and a true Democrat, Carol Kuhnke is the ideal choice for the 22nd District Court in Washtenaw County.

My interview with Carol Kuhnke 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.

So much for charging up the base…

Although the Romney campaign clearly hoped the selection of Super and True Conservative Paul Ryan as his running mate would fire up his base and, more importantly, fire up his polling numbers, the truth is, it hasn’t.

Reuters reports that only 26 percent of people they polled view Romney more favorably after his choice of Ryan for Vice President. Gallup polling shows that his support number went from 46% to 47% among registered voters after the VP announcement.

Splat.

So much for that.

Much more after the jump.

As you know, if you read my blog, this past spring, Michigan Republicans passed legislation that Governor Rick Snyder signed into law as Public Act 4 of 2011, otherwise known as “The Emergency Financial Manager (EFM) Law”. Although Michigan governors already had the ability to put EFMs in place in struggling cities and schools, this new law gives EFMs wide-sweeping […]

Mark Ouimet is running for the state House of Representatives in the 52nd District, facing Democrat Christine Green. I have written before about accusations regarding Mark Ouimet’s financial misconduct with regards to tens of thousands of dollars of reimbursements for travel and per diems during his time as Washtenaw County. I have also written about the near slanderous attacks on […]

Mark Ouimet, Washtenaw County Commissioner and candidate for the State House in the 52nd District, is being accused of inappropriately collecting tens of thousands of dollars of reimbursements for fees and expenses during his time as Commissioner. In a press release yesterday from the Washtenaw County Democratic Party, the details were revealed: Washtenaw County Democratic Party Chairman Stu Dowty today […]

I have received four robocalls against Christine Green, the Democratic candidate for the 52nd state House district. The robocalls are from a woman who speaks without once saying where she’s from. She does not mention Mark Ouimet, Green’s GOP opponent. There are also literature pieces being mailed into the 52nd district. I have heard that these robocalls are happening in […]

Yesterday, February 6, three Democratic candidates for statewide office appeared on a panel to discuss their candidacy and to answer questions from the audience. The event was sponsored by People of Diversity United for Equality (PODUE) and was held at the Brown Chapel AME in Ypsilanti. In attendance were Alma Wheeler-Smith — candidate for governor, Jocelyn Benson — candidate for […]

Okay, not the entire newspaper. But Heritage Newspapers employee Terry Jacoby anyway. Stu Dowty is the chair of the Washtenaw County Democratic Party. Since his election to that position in 2009, he has done a terrific job of leading the Dems. In answering a series of questionnaire questions sent to him by Mr. Jacoby, Stu demonstrates his extensive knowledge of […]