From the MI7thCDRC Chair, Dan Wholihan

Facebook Post on 11/2/23

Bottom line. The 2018, 2020, and 2022 lasting elections and actions leading up to them have consequences. It is what lead to the late term baby killing votes last night. It will take a long process to protect life.

2018 blue wave - Pot on the ballot drove up turnout. It cost Tom Leonard his race for AG. Benson was barely challenged for Sec of State and consultant games killed us there. Schuette didn't get the help he needed. The Redistricting Commission was on the ballot and one of the worst pieces of ballot legislation there was (obliterating municipal lines, county lines, etc). Promote the vote? Same day registration. That all passed. The legislature should have had alternatives ready - especially for the redistricting commission (putting county lines first).

2020 - Michigan has paper ballots. All the machines talk is a rabbit hole by grifters. I repeat. Grifters. Yes, there's fraud in every election (harvesting, Benson's AV mailings), but ANY machine "fraud" can be caught in recounts if they aren't caught in canvassing. Trump should have called for a recount statewide to get himself standing for a strong contest. He didn't. The eyes were on Detroit which had less votes than 2016. The eyes weren't on Ann Arbor and those areas where I expect a lot more problems.

2021 - The redistricting commission did what we all knew they would do. The consultants took over and we got the monstrosity gerrymander we have today in many areas.

2022 - The blue wave occurred for a combination of things. New districts. Poor preparation on abortion. Trump fatigue by many. Trump supporters staying home. Poor tactics on absentees. Too many bad candidates. Too many temper tantrums from those wounded by their candidate not winning the primary (ALL wings of the party). The main opposition to Prop 3 was one of the worst campaigns I've ever seen. The small group I was a part of that targeted Jackson County with less than $50,000 was more effective than the $10M monstrosity of "too confusing too extreme." The new "promote the vote" monstrosity passed making 2024 a challenge we need to be ready for.

So what are we going to do about it?

1. We need to make sure good candidates are nominated who can win the general. Get out of the bubbles. The US House is up and we need to prevent what happened in Michigan to happen there. The Dems control the US Senate and Presidency. Biden need to go. Slotkin needs to lose.

2. In Michigan, we need to stop the bleeding and need good candidates who win general elections. If we get the State House, the damage is minimalized for two years until the Governorship is out. The Courts need to come back as well. Passing a late term abortion ban will take at least four years minimum, maybe longer.

3. We need to take advantage of all loopholes and play every game possible to win. Election Integrity isn't a spectator sport. If you aren't a poll worker, I don't want to hear complaining about election integrity issues in 2024. Encourage absentee voting (in person to drop box inside the township building) or encourage taking advantage of the in person early voting. It should be easy to vote and hard to cheat.

4. Get out of the bubbles. People vote for different reasons. Most vote on the economy. Most don't want to hear talk about stolen elections, January 6th, Hunter Biden, or that stuff. They want to be able to take care of their families. When we are persuading people to support our candidates, we aren't missionaries trying to convert people to our religion. We are selling our candidates. What THEY want is important, not us. We don't need to be "right." We need them to vote our way.

5. Don't forget the locals. While we can't (legally) stop baby killing on a mass scale, we can do our part. We need to make sure we have good city councils, township trustees, county commissions, zoning boards, and planning comissions, to make sure they don't go in our backyards. We need to protect our local communities, as that's about all we got going for us right now in Michigan.

6. Vote for the nominee. If I was able to hold my nose for John McCain, and even Mitt friggin Romney in 2012 (and I knew what he was about), then we can vote to defeat Biden - be it Trump, DeSantis, Vivek, Haley, or Scott. Some I like better than others, but all of them are better than Biden and would appoint better judges than Biden. Downticket, that means we support our nominee against babykillers like Conlin, Witwer, Breen, etc.

This is LONG term. We are in a long term hole and it take a long term to dig our state out.

In other news....

In other news:

We had our Friendraiser Euchre Night on Oct 20 at Tony M's. It was our 3rd annual Euchre event. We had a great time!  Played cards, got to know some newer members, and the pizza and salad kept coming! We did raise a few dollars all while having a great time. We hope to see more of you there next time! 

We still have openings on some committees. You do not have to be an executive board member to serve on a subcommittee. The Communications Committee is truly looking for someone who knows Google Sites Website updating and Mailchimp email blast formats. Please let  Paula Caltrider or Mari-Ann Henry know if you are interested caltriderp@yahoo.com or mariannhenry@yahoo.com. 

• Elections Committee Dan Wholihan Chair

• Events Committee Mari-Ann Henry Chair

• Communications/Social Media Committee Paula Caltrider Chair

• Outreach Committee Ronald Poth Chair

Tom Barrett Is In It To Win!

Tom has been busy campaigning, meeting and greeting over this vast district. Find out where you can next catch Tom to support his run for the 7th District Congressman here. Watch his latest commercial on his website! tombarrettforcongress.com/