DFA Campaign Academy (2-day training) comes to Lansing

Written by: Amy Buttery on May 15, 2008 2:50 PM EDT

Linked to groups: Michigan Democracy for America, Justice Caucus PAC, MidMichigan Democracy for America

Mid-Michigan DFA is pleased to offer the DFA CAMPAIGN ACADEMY, a 2-day training opportunity, in Lansing this June 7-8.

The DFA Campaign Academy mission is to focus, network, and train grassroots activists in the skills and strategies to take back our country, manage successful campaigns or run for office themselves.

Our Campaign Academy weekends are 16 hours of interactive workshops bringing hundreds of local activists, campaign staff and candidates together for 2 days of intensive campaign training. Experienced campaign professionals lead sessions in voter contact, fundraising, communications, on-line organizing and much more to empower progressive activists with the skills to win in November and beyond.

Attendees also meet with dozens of local progressive candidates and learn about exciting job and volunteer opportunities in their area. And of course, everyone receives their own copy of DFA's 180-page Campaign Training Manual.

The fee for this event is $60 or $30 for students or people of limited income. Some scholarships are available--email for details. Help with overnight accomodations may also be available. ASK!

For more information or to register, visit http:/democracyforamerica.com/campaignacademy

(Click on Lansing, MI in the list of events)

or

Click Here: http://www.dfalink.com/mi_training

Save the Date: DFA Training Academy

Written by: Amy Buttery on Feb 21, 2008 12:12 AM EST

Mid-Michigan DFA is thrilled to be hosting a DFA Training Academy JUNE 6-7 in Lansing (exact location to be determined soon). Trainers from National DFA will come for a two-day campaign training for activists across the state. Members of MMDFA who attended one of these in Ohio reported it was excellent.

So save the dates and spread the word. (You don't have to be a member of MMDFA to attend. We're hoping to draw progressives from many groups all around the area to attend and take the skills back to their own groups.)

Scroll down on this page to "Events Hosted By Other Groups" and click on the link to register to attend. (The "Other Group" here is simply "DFA Training Academy")

Attend Mid-Michigan DfA Phonebanking/Meeting on October 3!

Written by: Amy Buttery on Sep 30, 2006 2:06 PM EDT

Linked to groups: MidMichigan Democracy for America

Dear Member,

Please attend Mid-Michigan DfA Phonebanking/Meeting on Tuesday, October 3, 2006 at 6:00 PM. You can RSVP at:

www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=125...

NOTE: instead of our usual monthly meeting, we'll be phonebanking for One United Michigan (anti-Prop. 2) on TUESDAY and THURSDAY. Following the TUESDAY phonebanking (around 8 p.m.) we'll have a short meeting.

Note the change in usual time and place.

What: Mid-Michigan DfA Phonebanking/Meeting
When: Tuesday, October 3, 2006, 6:00 PM
Where: MEA
1216 Kendale Blvd.
East Lansing MI 48823

Attend Barb Byrum Campaigning on September 10!

Written by: Amy Buttery on Sep 8, 2006 2:36 PM EDT

Linked to groups: MidMichigan Democracy for America

Dear Member,

Please attend Barb Byrum Campaigning on Sunday, September 10, 2006 at 1:00 PM. You can RSVP at:

www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=127...

What: Barb Byrum Campaigning
When: Sunday, September 10, 2006, 1:00 PM
Where: Byrum for State Rep campaign office
2101 Aurelius Road
Holt MI 48911

COME walk Barb Byrum's district to talk to Dems about voting for her for State Rep. This is an important race, both because it's always been Dem (and thus an aid to Granholm and liberals) and because it's NO LONGER a "safe Dem" seat--it's by no means a shoe-in.

This is the first in a series of campaign events between now and the election. The group decided we placed a high priority on ACTION, on the ELECTION, and on specific races, including this one. You'll hear more about our overall campaigning schedule soon, but this is coming up in just 2 days, so RSVP now. It ain't gonna happen if we just sit around--now IS the time to get active.

Either MMDfA or I myself (Amy) will buy pizza for our contingent when we're through. Other incentives are also possibiities (win a MMDfA T-shirt?)

Come do Phones for Marcinkowski Campaign on August 16!

Written by: Amy Buttery on Aug 10, 2006 2:34 PM EDT

Dear Member,

Please join us as we do some important phone bank work for the Marcinkowski Campaign on Wednesday, August 16, 2006 at 6:00 PM. You can RSVP at:

www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=113...

What: Phone Bank for Marcinkowski Campaign
When: Wednesday, August 16, 2006, 6:00 PM
Where: Marcinkowski for Congress - Lansing Office
2801 E. Grand River Ave
Lansing MI 48912

(NOTE: If you can phonebank but NOT on this date, click RSVP anyway and choose a different event--I'm setting up events for each remaining Weds in August.)

Phone-bank work for Marcinkowski Campaign

Written by: Amy Buttery on Aug 10, 2006 2:05 PM EDT

Linked to groups: MidMichigan Democracy for America

The folks at the Lansing office of the Marcinkowski campaign invite all of us DFA members to volunteer to do phone calls for Marcinkowski. The month of August is especially important, as a flurry of activity this month has a chance of raising the campaign's profile on a national scale.

IT'S EASY and fun. They train you on their computer/phone system, and you follow a great script on the computer that makes it truly simple and effective.

What I'd like to propose, however, is that we schedule one or two nights in August when DFA members will volunteer as a GROUP to do a 3-hour shift of phone work at the Lansing office. It's difficult to pick a date with so many potential people involved, but I'm going to suggest Weds evenings, and create multiple "events" on the DFA-Link system. If you're interested in helping, please sign up for ALL events you could possibly make, but we'll cancel any event that doesn't get a few people to sign up. IF YOU'RE INTERESTED but can't make any of the dates proposed, email me (amynrob@yahoo.com) and I'll set up an "event" on the day you like, to see if other DFA members can join you.

Of course you can volunteer to help any time, any day.
517.579.7228
2801 E. Grand River (just west of 127)
They prefer that people sign up for 3-hour shifts, available daily: 9-12noon, 1-4, 6-9. The morning and afternoon weekday shifts are least likely to involve talking to a lot of folks, but it's still valuable because you help i.d. wrong/disconnected numbers, moved, etc., but if you want to talk with voters, choose an evening or weekend shift.

But it would be cool to show the activist dem community that we ARE a group and we actually DO things. Expect at least one "invitation" to an "event" from DFA-Link--just to give you the rsvp link.

THANKS.

The special endorsement meeting (July 18th)

Written by: Amy Buttery on Jul 28, 2006 10:58 PM EDT

Linked to groups: MidMichigan Democracy for America

I felt someone should record for members what happened at this meeting. We met with the purpose of deciding who we wanted to endorse in two tight and difficult State House races, the 68th and 69th. Seeking endorsement in the 68th were Mary Lindemann, who spoke at our regular July meeting, and Mark Meadows, who spoke at this meeting (the other dem candidate, Jeff Abood, didn't contact us.) Seeking our endorsement in the 69th were Melissa Sue Robinson, who spoke on her own behalf, and Jerry Hollister and Joan Bauer, both of whom had their campaign managers speak at the meeting. All were received with lively and civil discussion, I thought.

After those we were discussing left the room, there were only 8 voting members present, and we still hadn't settled on the process we'd use--mostly because we didn't have an endorsement committee that was supposed to meet and work this stuff out before this point. We discussed whether to endorse only one, more than one, or no candidates in contested primaries where several had sought endorsement and there was no clear reason to exclude one based on their submissions. THe point was raised that many candidates would prefer NO endorsement (remaining neutral) over an endorsement of two candidates. And considering precedent or tradition--most groups don't do multiple endorsements in a race. We decided (I think) to endorse one candidate if that candidate got a clear majority.

Because there were only 8 members voting, the notion was proposed that a candidate ought to have a supermajority. A 5-3 split would be a tenuous "win" and might result in some disgruntlement, considering how small a quorum we had. We decided that we'd endorse a candidate who got 6 of our 8 votes.

Finally, we voted and discovered that we were quite split among the candidates. It was both frustrating and inspiring, somehow, to see that each candidate had strong support in the group --frustrating because it felt like we accomplished nothing by remaining neutral, but inspiring because we have such decent candidates in these two races that, it seemed, most of us could feel fairly good about any of these candidates winning.

In any case, we realized the importance of thinking long and hard about the whole endorsement process and having a procedure well in place and agreed upon long before this comes up again in 08. Whew! Glad it's over.

OF COURSE, for the Nov election, we'll endorse whichever dem candidate wins the primary, provided it's one who has already sought our endorsement.

On Endorsing before a primary

Written by: Amy Buttery on Jul 14, 2006 1:24 PM EDT

Linked to groups: MidMichigan Democracy for America

We've endorsed 4 candidates so far in the upcoming primaries/election. But several more candidates are seeking our endorsement and we're planning to meet THIS COMING TUESDAY, July 18, to discuss endorsements in the 67th and 68th House races.

Aside from who we should choose to endorse, our group has to decide what to do in cases with several decent dems running and seeking our endorsement before a primary. I want to lay out my overview of the issue here--I hope you'll consider it before the meeting (or even after). Normally this would be done in our endorsement committee but there is none for the time being.

DFA Endorsement options in contested primaries where more than one candidate seeks our endorsement:

In all cases, the current requirements are that the candidate fill out an application and address us at a monthly meeting (can be through a campaign rep), and that their record of their accomplishments or stances fits with our mission.

But in contested primaries where more than one meets these basics, we could:

• Endorse neither. Put out a press release saying that we give both (or all three or whatever) candidates our "5-star progressive" rating. Note: other groups give this kind of rating, but in most cases they do it for all candidates--that is, they don't endorse any candidates, just give ratings. (LAHR, Lansing Association for Human Rights, apparently does this). Ingham County Dems, according to Ted Kilvington, endorse before the primary in uncontested races and don't endorse before primary in contested races. I don't know if they put out a release showing any kind of rating or support of multiple candidates.

• Endorse several. This might make sense when there's a 3-way-or-more race, and we want to endorse some subset of the candidates running. For instance, if candidates X, Y and Z are running and X and Y seek our endorsement and meet our requirements, we put out a release saying we endorse X and Y. Both can claim our endorsement, although it's sort of watering down the meaning of the word endorsement which implies a preference or choice. If we endorse ALL candidates running, to me it's like endorsing none. When I read "X endorses candidate B" I assume it means X prefers B over others, supports B and wants B to win. Endorsing all candidates means not caring who wins in the primary--might as well wait till after the primary, when we can comfortably endorse the more progressive candidate.

• Choose one. Evaluate the applicants carefully based on their applications, presentations to the group, and a discussion of what we might know about their public record that isn't already part of the above, and rate the various applicants, giving our endorsement to the one who rates the highest.

We might want to rule out this last option, but I'd point out that this is exactly what Mary Lindemann is hoping we might do in her case. Not that we have to do as she expects, but we should consider her perspective:

She's a progressive dem with very good credentials and likely to rep our interests very well. She's running against another well-known dem (whom many of us know), Mark Meadows, and she believes (and made a case) that she's MORE qualified than Meadows based on his record as mayor in E. Lansing. She's hoping that we will review both candidates and endorse the one who, in our opinion, BEST fits our organization's mission.

A separate question to consider is whether we should contact dem candidates who are running to let them know about our endorsement procedures. This time we decided to do so. There are advantages and disadvantages to contacting candidates.

Advantages:
• Our decision is more informed. If we contact all and only one applies, we know the others were not interested or were too busy, and we can feel comfortable with endorsing the one who did, even if there are other candidates we personally like.
• Our name gets out faster to the whole democratic community.
• We aren't in a position of endorsing a candidate who happened to apply when we feel there others who are equally- or better-suited candidates who simply weren't aware of our existence or procedure.

Disadvantages:
• A little more work.
• Can slow down process by giving them time to respond (there should be a limited time frame, like a week), and possibly scheduling issues (can't make this month's meeting but can make the following month.)
• Takes away the political reward to the more savvy candidates who are educated and proactive enough to seek our endorsement without prodding. Rodney Hampton pointed this out at our last meeting. The hard-working candidate should know enough to seek endorsements from likely groups, and should be rewarded for that action with an endorsement, as long as he or she merits it. (This is very sensible when it comes to larger well-known endorsing groups like NARAL or Sierra Club. Whether it applies to us at this point is up for discussion.)

THANKS. Please post comments below...

Amy

Help MMDfA expose Rogers Voting Record

Written by: Amy Buttery on Jun 26, 2006 10:56 PM EDT

Linked to groups: MidMichigan Democracy for America

We want to expose Mike Rogers' outrageous voting record in Congress. Will you help us?

We have enough in our Federal PAC to roll out the first ad, which is now scheduled to appear in the Livingston Community News on July 7th. This weekly reaches over 50,000 households in Livingston Co. and Rogers' 8th Congressional District.

But we need to raise several hundred dollars for a second ad to appear soon thereafter, and we have at least four more ads planned over the Summer.

Can you help us?

If you feel you can contribute, please email me your pledge amount, and look in the FILES section of this group for the federal PAC contribution form--send the check with the completed form to the address on the form.

Or, if you prefer, you can contribute online at our Act Blue fundraising page:
www.actblue.com/page/mmdfapac...

To preview the ad, which attacks Rogers' voting record on taking from the middle class to give to the rich, email Phil Shepard at shepard@acd.net.

Thanks so much for your help. Let's give the country a really big surprise on election day and send someone to Washington who will represent us.

Attend Garden Party for Jim Marcinkowski on June 25!

Written by: Amy Buttery on Jun 19, 2006 3:19 PM EDT

Linked to groups: MidMichigan Democracy for America

Dear Member,

Please attend our Garden Party for Jim Marcinkowski on Sunday, June 25, 2006 at 1:00 PM. You can RSVP at:

www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=929...

What: Garden Party for Jim Marcinkowski
When: Sunday, June 25, 2006, 1:00 PM
Where: Amy Buttery's home
2979 Whistlewood Way
Lansing MI 48911

Jim Marcinkowski is scheduled to be there to tell us about himself and answer questions. We will also raffle off a few progressive books and generally enjoy ourselves and each others' company. This is a fundraising event for Marcinkowski's campaign (he is challenging Mike Rogers' seat in the U.S. House.) www.marcinkowskiforcongress.com... for more info about him.