Candidate Forum was a Success!!!

On July 30th, the GCYD and Alpha Phi Alpha (Theta Tau Chapter) sponsored a Democratic Party candidate forum for the 34th and 51rst State House races. The forum was held at the University Center at UM-Flint. For the 34th district, Eleazar Barzart, Richard Dicks Jr., Chris Del Morone, and Woodrow Stanley were present; for the 51rst, Michael J. Thorp and Harold Ward. The 34^th district is Flint and the 51rst is Grand Blanc, Fenton, Linden, Atlas Twp, Argentine, and Mundy Twp.

The event went really well. Please remember to vote in the primary this Tuesday, August 5^th.

Here’s video from the introductions:

Here's video of the question and answer portion:

Here is video of the closing remarks:

Thanks to the candidates, the audience, and our co-sponsor.

- Keith

Detroit's Kwame Duo

Unless you have been living under a rock on the ocean floor for the past six years, it has been almost impossible for a resident of Michigan to not learn about the allegations, accusations, and well just plain acts of foolishness, which have been levied against the Mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick. Some of them have never been substantiated while others have been blasted on the front page of the newspapers and have led to Mayor Kilpatrick being charged with eight felony counts.

This crisis has serious implications for the Mayor and his family, his former Chief of Staff, the residents and the City of Detroit, and the entire State of Michigan for whom Detroit will be either the engine or the caboose.

However on July 29, 2008 the heat began to lift off the Mayor. If the
Mayor escapes his current scandals with Houdini like ease, this date will be
cited as the turning point.

What happened you say, well THE DETROIT PISTONS SIGNED KWAME BROWN!



Follow me here. Since the 2001 Mayor's Race, Kwame Kilpatrick has cast a literal and metaphorical shadow over Detroit politics. Friend and foe alike knew who he was to the point that other than official statements and news reports he became known just as "Kwame". Friends referred to him by just his first name as a way of distinguishing him from his Congresswoman mother. Foes omitted his surname as a sign of disregard and disrespect for the Mayor. Around Detroit and indeed Michigan, people would say, "Kwame did this...” "Did you hear what Kwame...".

However, beginning in November, people will have to specify which Kwame they are referring to. Detroit's new Kwame duo have more in common than the same first name:

2001

Both burst on to the stage in 2001: Kilpatrick winning the Mayor's race and Brown as the #1 overall pick in the NBA.

Youth

Both were relatively very young when they became household names: 31 for Kilpatrick, Brown 19

Record Setting Youth

Kilpatrick was the youngest Mayor in Detroit history, Brown the first High School Player selected with the #1 overall pick in the NBA draft.

Famous Pedigree

Kilpatrick hails from a famous Detroit political and succeeded his mother in the Michigan House of Representatives. Brown was the first draft pick by former Wizards General Manager and His Airness Michael Jordan.

There are however a few differences between the Detroit Kwame Duo:

Size

Brown is a typical NBA athlete with a tall sleek build checking in at 6'11" and 270 lbs. Kilpatrick has the build of a former football player, which he is, and checks in at around 6'4" and a kind 300+ lbs.

Hands

Brown's major weakness is his poor use of his hands. His inability to catch passes in the post and to be able to move the ball have hampered his development over seven seasons in the NBA. Kilpatrick though has allegedly shown himself to be skilled at using his hands, at least according to Wayne County Sheriff's Detective Brian White.

Which one of Detroit's Kwame Duo rebounds and reclaims some of their former prestige? Brown, Kilpatrick, Both or Neither? Post in the comments.

-Kyle M.

Young Dems Talking to Candidates

Let Your Voice Be Heard!

We have seen unprecedented involvement by young voters in the Democratic Primaries all across America this year. We want to keep the momentum going by having a Voters Forum with candidates answering our questions and talking about the issues that are important to us. Too often politicians have ignored young/first-time voters and we don't always feel like we are a part of the process. What a great way to keep young people involved in the process by having the candidates talk directly to us.

The Young Voters Forum will focus on the Democratic Primary Candidates in the 34th State House District (Flint) and the 51st State House District (Grand Blanc, Fenton, Linden). These are two important and competitive races for open House seats in Genesee County. The people who win the August 5th Primaries will stand in the General Election in November and we need the put forth the candidates who will best advocate for higher education, job training, affordable health care, and all of the other issues that are important to our demographic.

It will be held at UM-Flint in the Michigan Rooms on Wed. 7/30 from 6-8pm. The Event is being co-sponsored by the Genesee County Young Democrats and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

Please invite your friends and family and come out and hear from and talk to the candidates.

-Kyle M.

Help the GCYD Support Education in Genesee County

The Genesee County Young Democrats are working with Blue Tiger Democrats to help provide disadvantaged high school seniors in Genesee County the opportunity to start college. We are currently in the process of fundraising to provide an endowed scholarship based on merit and need. We plan to work with the Community Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to planning scholarship funds. However, we need $10,000 to begin working with them. In total, we need $50,000 in order for the interest to provide a $5,000 scholarship on an annual basis for all of our lifetimes.

We Michiganders know how to live through difficult times. We have seen them before and we will see them again. However, how can we ever repair our community if talented students are unable to get the education that they have been working towards for twelve years?

These children are told from kindergarten till they graduate that if they work hard enough they will get ahead. This is simply not always the case. By the time they pay back all their student loans, now with higher interest rates, they are too poor to be anywhere but behind. That’s unfair and it jeopardizes the American Dream.

Granted, we can’t fix these problems by ourselves even after we fund a scholarship fund, but at least we can even the playing field for folks who work hard without the rewards they deserve. Just maybe we can make a positive contribution to this community and inspire others to act as well. Help us make this a reality.

We could really use your help in taking us to the next step. If you are just as passionate about the future of Michigan, then help us meet these goals by sending financial contributions to:

Blue Tiger Democrats

4116 Orme Cir.

Clio, MI 48420

(Please make checks out to "Blue Tiger Democrats" and memo "Scholarship Fund")

We can use any help you can provide. Thank you.

- Keith

We Young Dems, We Getting Smarter ;)

This post might be a little late, but I am still excited about the DFA Academy that was held last weekend in Lansing, MI. For those who don't know, Democracy for America is the remnants of the Howard Dean campaign. The DFA is sorta similar to MoveOn.org as it supplements the Democratic Party by providing services the mainstream Party has been unable to administer. One of those services is training.

DFA training is like bootcamp for campaign managers covering the skills and structure necessary to run a professional operation. Over the weekend we covered fundraising, field planning, volunteer management, message formulation, and internet capabilities. Oh, and did I mention we got to meet Jim Dean, Howard Dean's brother and Chairman of the DFA? Well . . . we did, so there.

In case you ever wondered, Jim Dean does have a lot of people call him Jimmy Dean or James Dean. Who would've guessed?

It was a good experience and something that Democrats forget to do. I don't even want to start counting the number of mistakes I made during my first couple of attempts at field organizing. And boy, did the instructors ever remind me of them. :( I wish someone would have given me an opportunity like this during the '04 race. I can't speak for our President and Vice-President, but they seemed to enjoy themselves and they were excited to start showing off their new ideas. Nice job DFA!!!

If you are want to approach politics as a career or you are currently running a campaign, please enroll in a DFA Academy or the DFA free Night Classes program.

To see pictures go here.

Thank you Rico Thomas Rico, our new featured blogger, for taking the pics!!!

-Keith

Economic Trouble: Unemployment Worsens

The number one issue in the 2008 Presidential Campaign will be whether to continue the economic policies of President George W. Bush. Arizona Senator and the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party John McCain will continue President Bush’s policies and tax cuts here and here. Illinois Senator and the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party Barack Obama wants to move away from the current Bush-McCain economic plan and has a full plan to rebuild America’s economy and help middle-class families. In order to truly examine whether the policies of the last eight years should be continued by electing John McCain or whether we should have wholesale change with Barack Obama, we need to assess the current state of the economy.

Most Americans when asked about the strength or weakness of the economy will base their opinions on their personal situations. The most basic barometer of an individual’s economic situation is whether or not they have a job that provides them with the quality of life they desire. There are two parts here: if you have a job and if you have a good job (with good being a relative term based on one’s age, educational background, and family situation).

Unfortunately for the 13,983,000 Americans who were either employed or underemployed (I’ll explain this term a little later) as of May 2008 the economic data shows that the Bush McCain economic policies have damaged our economy and things are getting worse. There has been much conversation about weighty foreign policy issues in this campaign like Iraq, Iran, & diplomacy and completely trivial issues like whose preacher said what during services when the candidate wasn’t there. However, the number one issue for most Americans is the economy. For the nearly 14 million unemployed and underemployed Americans this issue boils down to the good job they don’t have.

The sad news is that the employment situation is only getting worse.

The May 2008 Report of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the unemployment rate for the US grew from 5.0% to 5.5% in May 2008. In raw numbers, this translates to 861,000 more Americans unemployed in May than were unemployed in April. Most people and most of the media only will report the change in unemployment. The reality is that of the 8,487,000 people unemployed according to the government’s definition, 3,244,000 of them lost their jobs in the past 5 weeks. These are the households who in this time of rising gas & food prices are facing the cold reality of not having an income. They may find themselves angry at being laid off, saddened by the loss of relationships with their coworkers, and worried about what lies ahead for the families. They will probably not join John McCain in wanting to make permanent the economic policies of President Bush, that’s for sure!

Now, the good news is that many of these 3.2 million newly unemployed workers will find a new job in a matter of weeks. Our economy operates under a principle of creative destruction where new companies and jobs are constantly being created to replace the jobs that have been eliminated and the businesses that have closed.

However, for many of these workers, especially those who have lost manufacturing jobs, the new jobs that they get will not fully replace their lost incomes. Also they will often not provide the same healthcare for themselves or their families or the same security for their retirement. This is the concept of being underemployed. Millions of Americans fit this term where they do have a job and are not technically unemployed. However, their new job does not provide the same income or benefits of the job they lost. An example, which is all too common here in the Midwest and especially here in Michigan, is the factory worker who loses their job and gets a new job in the service sector. The previous full-time factory job paid $18/hour with good healthcare (negotiated by their union) while their new job in retail pays only $13/hour, is part-time and crucially does not provide healthcare coverage.

This is what underemployment looks like. Sit down with your family budget. Cut your income by nearly 30-50% and do away with you healthcare benefits if you have them. Then ask yourself if you think we should continue the Bush-McCain economic policies. As of May 2008 there were 5,233,000 part-time workers who said that they were working part-time for economic reasons. These workers and their families live this reality everyday.

I mentioned that many of the newly unemployed would soon find new jobs, although many will still be underemployed. Others though will not be so fortunate. Not only did the May statistics show an economy with growing unemployment, they also showed a rise in long-term unemployment. The government defines long-term as not having a job for 27 weeks or longer. In May, 1,550,000 Americans were in this situation. This is up 36% from a year ago.

Look at the calendar an flip back 6 months. Imagine losing your job just after Thanksgiving. If you were a Christian, the Christmas season would have brought on many tough times. Watching your family, friends, and neighbors spending freely on presents and gifts would have made you very conscious of you lack of an income. If you were in a two-income household, you would have been able to survive for awhile by cutting back and relying on your spouse or partner’s income. But awhile then turns to months as you continue to strike out on finding a new job. Imagine the stresses on your family, your marriage, your children, and your health after six months of looking for work with no success. That is the reality for over 1.5 million Americans.

The government only includes unemployed people who have looked for a job in the past month in the unemployment report. The government reports that there are 400,000 people who are unemployed but have given up looking for work because they are discouraged about their prospects.

The nearly 14 million Americans who are unemployed, working part-time because they have to, or who have gotten so discouraged about finding a job that they have given up demand CHANGE and we must give them change by changing the leadership of our Country.

-Kyle M.

The Obama Victory Lap Finds Its Way to Troy, MI

Senator Barack Obama is poised to take the nomination tonight and we Michiganders were given the opportunity to share in the celebration yesterday in Troy, Michigan. The primary has obviously worn Obama down. At the Troy rally, the Senator haggardly walked through the hall to center stage as he slowly opened on his address before the town. Obama was visibly tired as he uncharacteristically hunched over the microphone. This body language is a far-cry from Obama’s usually straight posture. However, Obama demonstrated his ability to appeal to the crowd. From Obama reciprocating an “I love you” to an audience member to the electricity of him handing his microphone to an American Axle employee during the question and answer period, Obama lit the crowd up.

Yet, Obama has been on a victory lap since his rally in Grand Rapids over two weeks ago, which has been characterized by Obama going on the offensive against Senator John McCain. The rally in Troy was no different as Obama used all of his time to separate himself from the Republican Senator. Obama was able to overcome his obvious weary and delivered a pitch perfect, intense, crowd pleasing speech that took the campaign from the trenches of the primary and moved it into the war against John McCain. “Because Senator McCain says we have made, and this is a quote, ‘great progress economically’ these past eight year, and he promises more of the same.” The inevitable comparisons to George W. Bush were a damning scorecard of McCain’s transformation into a far-right winger. This is merely a preview of the direction this campaign will follow as we head into late summer leaving me to wonder how McCain plans to shake the baggage that comes from his party’s nomination.

As Obama closes in on the nomination, the VP rumors are flying. Obama had nothing but praise for Hillary Clinton at his rally in Troy, MI on Monday. He even hinted that they would be working closely come November. Also, there is talk that Clinton is warming up to the position of VP. Will he offer her a spot on the ticket or will the delegates/superdelegates force him to? I would be surprised if Senator Clinton does not receive some cabinet position offer. I would also be greatly surprised if the Clinton campaign headed into the convention without an agenda to promote a runner-up prize that could be enforced by the 17 million people who voted for her. One thing is clear, however, the convention is no longer going to be about the presidential nominee, but about the vice-presidential nominee. Tonight, Obama will likely reach the 2, 118 delegates needed to clinch the nomination and the race once again changes.

Keith