State Convention proves another opportunity to talk to voters

Mike and I both spent the weekend at the Democratic State Convention this weekend in Detroit.

Unfortunately, I was only able to attend one of the caucuses and only vote for the Attorney General and Secretary of State on the convention floor on Sunday because I volunteered to work at the registration desk and give out credentials. It was fun, but I regret missing the first-ever blogger conference they held. However, I did get to meet a lot of different people from all over the state. When ever I work a party function like this, and this is the second time I have worked at a convention, I am amazed at all the different people from every race, ethnic group, national origin and economic level that attend these conventions.

Mike used the time to do what he does best, talk to people. To have the opportunity to talk to a lot of people from all over the state to gather information about the similar problems they are facing and to hear some ideas about solving some problems was invaluable. Because the party is so diverse, he was able to talk to the whole gamut of people being hurt by the economy, including representatives of labor, workers, business owners, management and local state and federal elected officials.

It was a thrill to see Democracy in action. There was actually a floor fight for both Attorney General and Secretary of State, and we have two excellent candidates. This is only the second such convention I have attended, but some people I talked to who have been to many conventions told me that by summer convention time the nominees for Supreme Court, State Board of Education, candidates for the board’s of the state’s public universities, attorney general and secretary of state are already decided. However, this year, for the first time in many years as I was told, the nominee for AG and SOS had not yet been settled.

Voting is proportional broken down by Congressional District and then county. Livingston County went unanimously with its 34 votes for the eventual winners, the next AG Amos Williams and SOS Carmella Sabaugh.

Sabaugh had some interesting ideas Mike would like to propose as legislation when he is elected. They want to change the deadline for registering to vote from 30 days before the election to allowing same day registration, she pledges – and the law should make it mandatory – not to serve on any campaign committee while serving as the state’s chief election official, allow anyone to vote absentee for any reason and support automatic voter registration when you get your driver’s license or state ID.

The goal is to actually increase voter turnout from the average dismal turnout of 25-40 percent of registered voters we normally see to as near to 100 percent as possible. It doesn’t seem right that a minority of the people are making decisions for everyone.

This is in share contrast to Chris Ward’s efforts to thrown roadblocks in front of people who want to vote, like his unconstitutional bill that will require people to show an ID card in order to vote. It’s unusual for a former clerk to work to try and keep voter turnout down and disenfranchise voters, but it’s just another scheme to try and keep him and his cronies in power.