WCDP News: Events for big-time voters like you

Is the word getting out about Dem wins or about what Republicans are really doing in our world? Try our one-question-quiz! Answers at the end of the newsletter.

https://www.mobilize.us/2024mivictory/event/640795

Ann Arbor July 4th Parade. Thursday, July 4
Ypsilanti July 4th Parade. Thursday, July 4
John E. Lawrence Summer Jazz Series. Fridays July 5 – August 23, 7-9 pm
Ann Arbor Art Fair. Thursday, July 18 – Saturday, July 20
Ypsilanti Jazz in the Parking Lot. Saturday, July 20
Ann Arbor Pride Celebration. Saturday, August 3
Manchester Fair Parade. Tuesday, August 6
Dexter Summer Festival. Friday, August 9 – Saturday, August 10

WCDP July Meeting & Candidate Forum
Washtenaw District Court & Circuit Court Judicial Panels Saturday, July 13 @ 9:15 am – 12:00 pm

In-person at the Washtenaw County Learning Resource Center, 4135 Washtenaw Avenue, and on Zoom.

9:15–9:45 – Social time, get to know your Democratic neighbors and enjoy breakfast treats!

9:45–10:15 – Party business

What we’re doing, how you can be part of it
Updates from state & local elected officials
DC Update from Congresswoman Debbie Dingell

10:15–10:30 – The court system in Washtenaw County: an overview

10:30–11:15 – District Court (15th District) Judicial Panel

Tamara Garwood Magistrate, 15th District Court; vice president of the Michigan Association of District Court Magistrates; member, EMU Legal Resource Center Board of Directors; member, Michigan State Bar Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee; Trained mediator and arbitrator.
Kerene Moore, Director of Conviction Integrity and Expungement, Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office; Former Judicial Attorney/Juvenile Referee, Washtenaw County Circuit Court; Former Ann Arbor District Library Trustee and Human Rights Commissioner.
Moderator: Stacie Greskowiak McNulty

11:15–12:00 – Washtenaw County Circuit Court (22nd Circuit) Panel

Jinan Hamood, Attorney with over ten years of practice in the areas of criminal defense, family, and civil law; active in the community and has served in numerous organizations.
Jeffrey Worosz, Attorney specializing in family law, probate litigation, and civil disputes.
Moderator: Stacie Greskowiak McNulty

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83935305685

CD6 Picnic, Saturday, July 13, 11-2
Everyone welcome!

Join our Congresswoman Debbie Dingell and UAW Region 1A Director Laura Dickerson for a district-wide picnic on Saturday, July 13th, 2024. 11:00 am – 2:00 pm, at the UAW Local 898, 8975 Textile Rd, Ypsilanti Charter Twp., MI 48197. Build solidarity with Democratic allies and enjoy food and non-alcoholic beverages for all!

Project 2025

Quinn LiPuma is a junior majoring in Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy in MSU’s James Madison College. During his summer internship with WCDP, Quinn will write short explanatory pieces for us about the Heritage Foundation’s terrifying but little-understood blueprint for American fascism, titled Project 2025. This is the first piece in Quinn’s series. Brief overview: In April 2023, extremist Republican operatives, “scholars,” and politicians published their vision for what they think America should aspire to be, and how the next “conservative” leader should achieve those aims. Their plan is a 1,000-page document fancily titled, “The Mandate for Leadership,” also called Project 2025. However, upon reading it, it becomes clear very quickly that this is less a mandate for leadership and more a mandate for dictatorship, thinly veiled behind obscure philosophical language and the sheer size of the document. As the weeks go by before election day, we here at the WCDP will provide a weekly debunking of the major talking points, as well as explain why this project absolutely matters, why it can happen here, and why an alarmist viewpoint is entirely reasonable. To open our debunking here, let us examine the way this is being framed by those right-wing operatives. Before even reading the document, the website touting it says, “Our goal is to assemble an army of . . . prepared conservatives to go to work on Day One to deconstruct the Administrative State.” Do you remember during the Trump administration when he seemed to fire top advisors nearly every other week? Well, you’re not imagining it. His turnover rate was 92% because none of his advisors could, or would, perform his dangerous demands. They were blocked in part due to the “Administrative State” vilified by Project 2025: the tens of thousands of federal workers who put their country and their jobs over politics. The prologue to this “Mandate for Leadership” is, essentially, saying that all those pesky little bureaucratic ants standing in the way of their radical plans should be removed. Some 50,000 federal workers, whose careers are centered around keeping the government running efficiently, and who, as civil servants, have long enjoyed robust protections from political change, would be reclassified as political appointees. Those holding those positions could therefore be fired if they dared to object to the President’s orders, and replaced with people – “an army of prepared conservatives” – who will obey the President, regardless of the outcome. This reclassification of nonpartisan civil service positions into political positions clears the path for implementation of the rest of Project 2025. Leaders of the Heritage Foundation are dead serious about dismantling American democracy. We should be just as serious about protecting it.

Can We, the People, get out from under the anti-democratic Electoral College without a (virtually impossible) constitutional amendment? Maybe!

You’ve probably heard of the National Popular Vote Initiative. If enough states agree to confer their electoral college votes on the winner of the popular vote for President, the US will be transformed (at least for a time) into a true representative democracy at the Presidential level.

If Michigan’s legislature passes HB 5343 – introduced last year by Rep. Carrie Rheingans (thanks, Carrie!) – the NPV will need just 50 more electoral college votes to reach the requisite 270 to restore our democracy. Find Michigan’s NPV detail here.

We’re proud of our legislators’ actions: both of our Senators (Irwin and Shink) and all of our state representatives stand behind the NPV. But they – and Speaker Joe Tate – need to hear that we want HB5343 passed now, before they recess for the summer.

Find your legislator and email or call them just by using your home address at MIvoter.org and clicking on the “Current officials” icon. Write or call Speaker Joe Tate as well.

Let’s add Michigan’s weight to democracy!

Take Action!

There is no shortage of ways to be involved. Take your pick! Take two!

Summer Lit Drop begins in Late June

WCPD’s Precinct Organizing Committee is mobilizing volunteers across the county for our Summer Lit Drop. You decide when and where you want to walk. You’ll use the MiniVAN app on a smartphone or tablet to locate the doors. If you don’t have or prefer not to use a smartphone, consider pairing up with a buddy who does!

Sign up now, and one of our WCDP Area Captains – the neighbor who will be organizing in your area from now until November – will be in touch to get you started.

One Campaign actions

Weekend Canvasses out of Ypsi and Ann Arbor offices: Saturdays, 10am, Sundays, 1pm, sign up here for Ann Arbor and here for Ypsilanti
Weekend of Action Canvasses out of Ypsi and Ann Arbor offices: Saturday, June 29th, 10am, 1pm, and 4pm, Sunday, June 30th, 1pm, 4pm, 6pm, sign up here for Ann Arbor and here for Ypsilanti
Host an organizer! Finally, we are looking for folks who are willing to open their home to incoming field organizers for supporter housing! If you could send along this form to your members, we’ve historically had really great folks host our field organizers in previous cycles.

Help re-elect our most vulnerable State House reps!

We love all of our State House reps – including Jason Morgan (HD23), Jimmie Wilson (HD32), and Carrie Rheingans (HD47) – and encourage engagement in all their campaigns. But two sitting reps are especially vulnerable, and one candidate is challenging a Republican. We urge you to visit their websites and volunteer for any or all of these three campaigns:

Re-elect Rep. Jennifer Conlin (HD48), whose district includes a big swath of conservative Livingston County.
Re-elect Rep. Reggie Miller (HD31), whose district is mostly in conservative Monroe County.
Elect Daniel Mahoney (HD46), whose Western Washtenaw district spans much of Jackson County. Mr. Mahoney is running to unseat a Republican – the only Republican who has any portion of Washtenaw County!

One Dem Minute Film Festival

One Dem Minute Film Festival is soliciting short videos with pro-democracy messaging, to inspire “squishy” Democrats and undecided voters to vote blue in November. You don’t need to be a professional filmmaker — if you have a compelling message, they want to see your vision! Join the producers on a Zoom call Monday, July 1, 5PM PST / 8PM EST to learn more about how you can participate, watch a few past finalist videos, and ask any burning questions you might have. Sign up here via Mobilize!

Deadline for WCDP Endorsements

Stack of WCDP Democratic Voter Guides from 2022, tied up with string and ready for delivery to trusty voters like you! Democratic Candidates:
Fill Out Your Endorsement & Voter Guide Information!
We need your information by July 15th!
Form link: https://bit.ly/WCDP2024Survey
Endorsement Process Information:
https://www.washtenawdems.org/endorsement-process/Candidates endorsed by the WCDP appear in our Voter Guide (both the paper and the electronic version, MIvoter.org), informing voters all across the county.

Every WCDP member can participate in the process, and every candidate can request the WCDP’s endorsement. Find the instructions here, and mark your calendars!

2024 WCDP Garden Party
Saturday, July 27, 3 to 6pm

Help support the WCDP by attending or sponsoring someone else to attend our 2024 Annual Garden Party hosted by Anne and Chris Savage. Come see their beautiful organic garden, eat scrumptious, homemade food, and connect with fellow Democrats. Rain date is July 28.

With featured speaker Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel

Every dollar raised will be used to reach voters and increase turnout throughout Washtenaw County including: outreach activities, voter guides, poll greeting cards, keeping the office open, and much more.

Get tickets today! https://secure.actblue.com/donate/gardenparty-2024

WordPress Skills Needed
We are looking for volunteers who know how to use WordPress for website development and upkeep for a variety of interesting and important projects. Could this be you? We’d love to have you join our team! Please contact our WCDP volunteer coordinator at: volunteer@washtenawdems.org.

Shop WCDP Merch now!

WCDP volunteer Lisa Murphy has designed a line of t-shirts, totes, and yard signs for the all-new WCDP store! Pick your message (samples below), and support the WCDP and the union members who’ve made the merch. Here are some samples – visit the store to find more!

Merch store design samples including photos and quotes by Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, and more

Join the Michigan Messengers

Michigan Messengers is a network of Democrats statewide coordinating voter outreach and publicizing messages that help Democrats win at every level. Don’t miss this opportunity to help us win this fall!

Register today to join the community!

Biden-Harris SignsAnd they are free!At the WCDP Office: 418 West Michigan Ave, Ypsilanti, MI 48197.

Drop by during office hours: Tuesdays, 4-6; Thursdays, 3-6; Saturdays, 1-3; Sundays, 1-3

Candidate Partners Wanted

Running for something?

Here’s how to
reach 3000 Washtenaw DemocratsDemocratic campaigns can get linked on our website, benefit from our email blasts, join us on social media, and place an ad in our website ‘ad book’ reaching 3,000 Washtenaw County Democrats. This opportunity is open to all Democratic candidates and does not constitute an endorsement from the WCDP.

To sign up, visit our Candidate Partners ActBlue page.

Yes! I want to become a WCDP Candidate Partner