CommentWell, it’s official now. Manistee County has flipped from being a fairly solid Democratic county to a solid Republican county. Interestingly enough, the breakdown fairly mirrors the breakdown nationally with the more rural areas being Republican and the towns more Democratic.
If we look at it, the demographic details look a lot like typical Trump voters. Our area is older, whiter, less educated and lower income than average. And although I don’t have figures on this, I would suspect that the “town dwellers” in Manistee County are younger, more diverse, better educated and higher income than the county averages. Also, we can surmise that the Trump voters are more susceptible to the fear, uncertainty and doubt message that the Republicans so adroitly used. They, for the most part, are not overtly racist, and can vote for a tamed John James but the idea of an uppity Maxine Waters is scary. They can be resentful of “them” but the systemic racism of the Republicans falls outside of their purview. LGBYQ issues are overblown and don’t apply to them unless they have a close relative who is gay. The idea of an invasion of “aliens” is real and is seen in terms of what would 10,000 “strangers” look like in their small community not that 10,000 aliens represents .00028% of the US population. The idea of urban interests overwhelming the rural interests certainly trumps the idea of 1 person 1 vote. (The reapportionment proposal got a surprising number of no votes.) We know this feeling first hand. There has always been the idea that SE Michigan ruled the state and outstate and UP interests got lost in the shuffle. What does all this mean? It means that election of representatives looks bleak in the near future. The best that we can do is to work in our communities to make sure that our values are represented and that our issues are dealt with. The fact that the election is mainly a cultural affair still leaves a lot of room for progress in specific issues. The most hateful people still need health care, their kids need to be educated, their water needs to be drinkable and the road drivable. Let’s keep working on that. Lee Trucks 2019
It’s going to be a very big year!! |
Breaking NewsElection HighlightsChristmas PotluckYou are cordially invited to attend the Democratic Party’s
Christmas Potluck December 15 6:00 pm Manistee Inn and Marina – Basement Reception Hall 378 River Street Ham, Wine and Punch will be served Bring a dish to pass and your own table service Bring a donation for the local food pantry Election Reflections
|
Comments from the ChairWith the mid terms behind us and some results yet to be decided in the coming weeks, it has become clear that the Democratic Party has indeed achieved a blue wave. We have taken control of the House and are now in a good position to check the Trump Administration on key issues. Additionally, we have demonstrated in three key states, Texas, Florida, and Georgia that we are serious contenders come 2020. Key issues such as redistricting and voter access initiatives were passed in many states, further
strengthening our future prospects. The party also took seven state governorships. So, overall, things are looking up for the NDP. These successes were especially noteworthy here in Michigan where our ticket almost unanimously prevailed. We gained the governorship and added seats in both the house and senate. We also saw Debbie Stabenow win reelection. Locally, of course we did not do well, failing to elect Matt Morgan, Kathy Wiejaczka, or Mike Taillard. These losses were very disappointing, especially for those who gave so much effort to those campaigns. As a local party, we also invested our resources heavily in those campaigns. These losses underscore the fact that our county is now solidly Republican. So, locally, the elections were a mixed bag. So now we have to set our sights on 2020 and making sure we do our part in scoring another victory in the push to take back our country from the far right Republican Party. Broadly speaking we will use the next two years to build up our resources. We will plan fund raising events to make sure we can adequately support candidates, and continue to build our membership. We will use these resources to develop a winning strategy at the county level. On Saturday, November 17 at 10:00a.m. at our office on River Street we will have our annual convention, election of officers, and monthly membership meeting, our last of the year. At that time we will be discussing what we need to do over the next two years to reverse our fortunes in Manistee County and how we can support the State and National Democratic Party. We will also discuss the past year and try to identify what worked and what didn’t work as well as plan events for the coming year. Please join us! We need everyone’s input if we are to improve our success as a local party. Come join your fellow Democrats and help develop a winning county strategy. See you there! Gary Madden My Deepest Thanks –
|
Powered by
