Women Rally For Obama In Battleground Michigan

It's not every day that you walk into a house in Michigan and are welcomed by a clutch of the Democratic Party's leading women. Then again, everything seems different this election. And Michigan is up for grabs. This past weekend the campaign dispatched Democratic National Committee Vice-Chair Susan Turnbull, Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), and Atlanta-based Judge Glenda Hatchett (of television fame) on a three-day blitz across the state. It was a part of the campaign's strategy of going straight into neighborhoods and homes.

This event, part of the Michigan Women for Obama effort, was held in the home of Ingham County Commissioner Rebecca Behar. The gathering drew nearly 40 people of all ages and ethnicities, all Obama/Biden supporters, who wanted to hear more about how the campaign was really going here.

The buzz in the room was clearly focused on recent widespread stories that Michigan individuals and families who had lost their homes to foreclosure would not be able to vote in the November election thanks to Republican maneuvering. Michigan State Senator Joan Bauer assured supporters that Democratic legislators were working on a bill that would prevent that from happening, Turnbull added that the Democrats have dispatched their lawyers to file suit as well.

The Obama campaign here is working hard to secure the student vote, Turnbull said. According to Michigan law, first-time voters must cast their ballots in the precinct of their "permanent residence -- for students that mostly means in the towns where their parents live. East Lansing, the home of Michigan State University, is making arrangements for students to travel home for Election Day.

Although the 2000 race between George W. Bush and Al Gore seems a lifetime ago, the people in the room drew heavily on their recollections of the election, one marked by disenfranchisement, of swinging and hanging chads. One woman expressed the concerns of others in the room when she asked, "how do we prevent what happened in Florida from happening here?"

"The way we keep it from happening is to get out to vote and make sure that it's not a contested race," Turnbull said. Judge Hatchett added, "we don't want it to be close enough for the [Republicans] to steal it."

One of the concerns of the group was that Obama may be getting beat by the punchy one-liners of his opponents. "When is he going to start giving us sound bites?" another participant asked. Turnbull said that the campaign is getting the message. "After the 9-11 commemorations, he came out swinging," she said. She drew attention to one of McCain's snappy one liners a few weeks ago, when he was asked about the state of the economy. The Republican candidate declared that "the fundamentals of our economy are strong," and later admitted that the economy really wasn't his strong suit. The women all agreed that it was more important to have a leader who was thoughtful about solutions, than to come up with quick statements that were just plain wrong.

Where blacks and whites may walk gingerly around the impact of race in the campaign publicly, in this cozy living room they addressed it head on. "I'm worried that no matter how qualified that Barack Obama is, there are many white people who just won't vote for him because he's black," a white woman said. Bob Alexander, the Democrat running against incumbent U.S. Representative Mike Rogers (R-MI) told the group of Obama supporters that it was key for the white volunteers to go out into small communities across the state to talk to voters about why they are supporting Obama.

Rep. Maloney said that this was the most divisive campaign in her lifetime. "It's important to talk about the issues that are important to people," she said. Maloney and Turnbull talked about the Obama platform that puts emphasis on health care, and relief for a struggling middle class and solutions to the energy crisis, all messages that the campaign is betting will play well in economically ravaged Michigan. Judge Hatchett gave a spirited talk on the importance of the election and urged the group to not only get out the vote, but to vote early.

Comments

[Nia1999]

To add to my previous post, I pray that the new voter's (who would be my co-worker's children) views are different from ours (me and their parents) and that the focus of the issues supercedes the color of the candidates skin. But more importantly get involved and VOTE.

[Nia1999]

I've lived in Michigan all my life and every few years the Detroit Free Press or the Detroit News (both major newspapers here) does a survey on race relations in Michigan. And every time the results conclude that Michigan is one the most segregated state in the U.S. I worked at the Detroit Free Press for 10 years working among a somewhat diverse group (mostly white) of people. The issues of race mostly centered around the city of Detroit, where most of the African American's in the company lived. The sterotyped comments and jokes, (crime, drugs, poverty, and dirty neighborhoods) were common the suburban co-workers. It was often assumed that if you were African Ameircan, you lived in Detroit. All in all we got along fine and were comfortable and respectful towards each other. We rarely socialized outside of the office except for company events. Living in Detroit most of my life, I rarely notice the segregation, unless I go to the mall which is in the suburbs and I'm at work again. Reading this post and thinking back, I never thought of Michigan as being a swing state until now. A lot of the comments I'm hearing in this election about the white voter's in Michigan are things I've heard all my life but never really listen and it's true.

[Plowboy]

Lose your home, lose your vote! That's the message Republicans give us.
BUT if you are a rich (Republican, obviously!) manipulator who messes us, don't worry, the taxpayers will guarantee you your security.
That should be drummed into the voters until they forget to believe all the silly lies the Republicans come up with, (along with their indecent racial ploys.)

[schatsie]

you know John McCain has 7 houses...I don't think that means he can vote 7 times does it?

[Indie2008]

Vote your conscience! Not your Fears!

[oldfart1]

For Hillary Michigan would have been a sure thing, but for Obama it's not -clearly race is the problem.

I think it's time that Democrats started to emphasize one key point. This election is not about personalities. Hillary and Obama have practically identical voting records. Bush and McCain are as alike as two peas in a pod.

If you still really want to talk about personalities, why is Cheney's daughter a lebian? Doesn't that suggest that she doesn't trust men? Why would she feel that way?

Sarah Palin says she represent family values. Why have none of her children graduated from high school? Why is the boy joining the Army? Could it just be that being in the Army in Iraq is preferable to being in Alaska with Sarah? Why is her pregnant daughter still unmarried? Her boyfriend used to say that he didn't want children, just a relationship. Why would her daughter choose that kind of relationship if Sarah provided a good family life?

[Mildmannered]

"the Michigan Women for Obama effort"

Thank you very much ladies for your time and hard work. I am not quite sure why Michigan is a swing state, but it is and a very important one given its size.

(It should be a solid blue state; the people of Michigan have really been suffering from a miserable Bush economy -- do they really want four more years of it.)

[M.S. Bellows, Jr. - Huffpost Blogger]

Good news today: Conyers' House Judiciary Committee will look into vote caging on Wednesday. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/m.s.-bellows/house-judiciary-committee_b_128299.html

[musselmanm]

Having lived through so many major earthquakes in southern California for so many years, I am obviously a qualified Geologist. And I can now say that I feel the earth begining to move!
The groundswell the past week is very encouraging and all Progressive voters need to remain active and committed as the time winds down until we do our American duty and take back America for the people.
Citizens must be armed and use their votes as ammunition!
Obama/Biden '08