Congratulations President Dukakis!

Michael Dukakis, Forty-First President of the United States

Okay, so he's not President yet, but he's gonna win, because it's the end of July and he's dominating George Bush, 55-38%! So you might as well call him our next President!

In the aftermath of the Democratic National Convention, the party's nominee, Michael S. Dukakis, has expanded his lead among registered voters over Vice President Bush, the probable Republican nominee, according to a Gallup Poll.

This was among the findings of a national public opinion poll of 948 registered voters conducted late last week for Newsweek magazine by the Gallup Organization. The telephone interviews took place on July 21, which was the last night of the convention, and on the night after that.

Fifty-five percent of the 948 registered voters interviewed in the poll said they preferred to see Mr. Dukakis win the 1988 Presidential election, while 38 percent said they preferred to see Mr. Bush win. The poll had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus four percentage points.

This represented a shift in Mr. Dukakis's lead from the 47 percent to 41 percent advantage he held in the last pre-convention Gallup Poll, taken by telephone July 8-10. In that poll, 1,001 registered voters were interviewed.

It's refreshing to know that after eight long years of Republican rule, we will have a Democrat in the White House!

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Except, of course, that Dukakis lost.

Granted, the poll was taken 15 weeks before the 1988 election, and we are less than 14 weeks from the 2008 election. Plus, this poll came on the heels of the Democratic National Convention, before the Republican convention started.

And yes, the Democrats are viewed in a much more favorable light than Republicans in 2008, something that couldn't be said two decades ago. And the Republicans are nominating a less-than-inspiring McCain to succeed an unpopular Bush, twenty years after an uninspiring Dukakis was nominated to succeed Mr. Likable.

However, Obama's lead over McCain is considerably smaller. And this poll form 1988 showed Dukakis above the all-important 50% mark.

My point is that so much can change in so little time. The election is 96 days away, which leaves plenty of time for fraud, Willie Horton-style attacks, and the like...

...and plenty of time for you and me to do something about it. Register some voters. Talk with your neighbors, friends, family members, etc. Write a letter to the editor.

Our nation - really, our world - need Barack, and Barack is counting on you and me. So please don't allow complacency to creep in.

Can We Stop Another Michigan Environmental Disaster?

The Upper Peninsula is hours away from Central Michigan, but we know what it is like to have polluted rivers around here. Millions of our taxpayer dollars have been spent to clean up the chemical stew lining the bottom of the Pine River and activists are working hard to force Dow Chemical to clean up its mess on the Tittabawassee River that feeds into the Saginaw Bay where eating too many fish could be a serious health problem.

Now another huge corporation could cause Michigan and Wisconsin to clean up another mess. No, it's not in our neighborhood. It's not even close to us like the messes in Alma or Midland. We don't have the opportunity to create a metallic sulphide mine in our area that might create jobs for less than a decade and then leave behind a nightmare.

Eric Hansen writes touchingly in the Milwaukee Journal about this disaster in the making that has no immediate impact on Central Michigan.

But the truth is we are all affected because if we don't assure that federal and state regulators demand full compliance with environmental regulations, we will all pay for another environmental disaster recovery operation cleaning up the mess. Robert Kennedy Jr. points out in his writing and his speeches that we need to demand that the total costs of pollution must be factored into every corporate decision with an environmental impact. We've learned that lesson well here about our rivers and ground water.

You have to wonder why after just agreeing to a Great Lakes compact to protect the largest body of fresh water on the planet, we would allow any corporation to do anything but provide 100% guarantees that taxpayers won't be stuck again.

We Are Heading To Broadway Wednesday Night For Fun and Our Candidates

The curtain is about to go up on the Democratic Party Forum and Follies and entertainers and candidates come together for a night of fun and poking fun at the GOP, the Grand Old Party, with emphasis on the Old. The ICDP has rented the Broadway Theater and with a lot of help from some of the most creative Democrats in these parts, we've done our best to put a little fun back into politics and are hoping for a good turnout.

You'll have a chance to see a great line-up of candidates as well as comedy, music and silliness. It all happens this Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in downtown Mt. Pleasant. Donations of $8 are requested to help our 08 candidates and $5 donations requested for students or seniors.

Secrets Revealed at Thursday Night Meeting

Although we've been sworn to secrecy about exactly what will happen next Wednesday night at the historically-restored Broadway Theater, the word got out last night at the monthly public meeting of the Isabella County Democratic Party.

Ronald Reagan is actually coming back from the dead to appear at the Democratic Party Forum and Follies, a lively attempt to put fun back into politics and raise a few bucks for local party activities.

That's not all. One of the local candidates will be imitating Bill Clinton playing the saxophone and Cindy McCain will be there to regale Dems with how she prepares some of her favorite recipes. I also just heard that another candidate will be appearing as Abraham Lincoln and that John McCain and Barack Obama impersonators will argue about who is nicer.

You really don't want to miss this event in downtown Mt. Pleasant at the Broadway Theater on Wednesday, July 16 at 7 p.m. Requested donation is $8 or $5 for students and seniors.

And you may even get to meet some of the local, national and state candidates as well.

Is It Possible to Put Fun Back Into Politics?

DEMOCRATIC PARTY

FORUM AND FOLLIES

Putting the Fun

Back Into Politics

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

7:00 p. m.

at the

Broadway Theater

in

Beautiful Downtown Mount Pleasant

Tired of folks who take politics too seriously? The Isabella County Democratic Party is adding a little pizzazz to politics this year with comedy, song and dance and candidates. Come out and be entertained and learn a bit more about our 2008 candidates.

Donation of $8 for our 08 candidates recommended

or $5 donation for students and seniors

Michigan Vet and Blogger Exposes The Real John McCain on Daily Kos

We met him at the Michigan Policy Summit and were impressed with his soft-spoken approach that underlies the wisdom that comes from actually being there in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He reminded of another excellent young writer, Scotty Urb who often hones in on just the right facts that amplifies the obvious.

Check out what DJ had to say about McCain's real record here at Daily Kos.

Michigan Senate and the Friday Night (Environmental) Massacre

This just arrived from the Sierra Club of Michigan. The Repubs seem bent on wrecking the environment just as they wrecked Michigan’s economy under Engler. If you live in Senator Cropsey’s district (which includes Isabella County), let him know this is making Michigan a laughing stock in this era of environmental crisis. 

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For more than a year, a bi-partisan group of lawmakers in the House worked to develop legislation to dramatically change energy policy in Michigan. Some elements of the package were good, some were bad. But on balance, most agreed that the House bills would move Michigan forward by requiring investment in the cheapest forms of energy.

The House package wasn’t perfect, but it was a step in the right direction. The bills contained a modest 1% Energy Efficiency savings standard per year, and a requirement that utilities provide 10% renewable energy by 2015 (a combined standard of 15.85% by 2015). Taken together, these policies would provide Michigan with affordable energy and take the first critical steps toward addressing global warming, while creating good-paying jobs.

Although Senate Republicans talk about clean energy and protecting ratepayers, their votes on Friday told a far different story. During the late night Massacre, they rammed through a completely irrelevant package of energy bills, which includes expensive and polluting coal as a renewable resource (no kidding!) and eliminated anything that could be construed as clean energy.

Under the Senate energy bills, Michigan will get more coal-fired power plants, skyrocketing energy costs, more pollution, more global warming, and few (if any) new jobs. Their combined standard for renewable energy and energy efficiency is 7% (Michigan already has almost 5%!) In short, the Senate energy bills are a joke. Whats even more appalling is that no one asked them to change the House bills!

The House bills passed their version of the energy bills with strong bi-partisan support and had the blessing of virtually every major interest group. There was no reason for the Senate to muck up the package. If they can’t improve the House bills, they should pass them intact, so that Michigan doesn’t end up a national laughing stock. 

Its time to let Senate Republicans know that they should lead, follow or get out of the way. Please send an email Senator Cropsey letting him know he got it wrong and needs to try again!

His contact information is: 

senacropsey@senate.michigan.gov, 

phone: 866-305-2133 

fax: (517) 373-8661