Help shape our Democratic Party!

Hey, you! Yeah, that's right - YOU!!

• Do you want to be more involved as a Democrat?
• Do you want to strengthen your voice in our Party and our communities?
• Do you want to help decide whom the Democratic Party nominates for offices like SoS and AG?
• Do you want to help steer the direction of the Democratic Party, including what our platform will look like and what issues the Party supports?

If you answered YES to any or all of these questions, then have I got the opportunities for you!

1. Join the Michigan Democratic Party. In order to vote at the April 17 Endorsement Convention, you must be an MDP member for 30 days before the Convention. So join or renew your membership by March 18 to have a chance to support your favorite candidates for office!

Plus, since memberships are good for one year, your membership will still be good for next

February's State Convention, at which we will elect our state Party leadership and adopt some resolutions. So join the MDP and have your say!

2. Become a Precinct Delegate! What is a Precinct Delegate? Well, I got this in an email a couple of years ago:

The Precinct Delegate is one of the most important of any elected office. It is the active Precinct Delegate who wins elections for the Democratic Party. Precinct Delegates are elected directly by the voters of each precinct to serve as a bridge between voters and the Democratic Party. Precinct Delegates represent the Democratic Party in their neighborhoods and represent their neighborhoods and Democratic Party meetings.

Precinct Delegates:
-Help Democrats get registered to vote
-Take information on issues and candidates to the voters in their precinct
-Identify other Democrats and recruit new Party members
-Help turn out the Democratic vote on Election Day
-Keep Democratic leaders informed about the issues that concern voters

So, essentially, you would be a liaison of sorts between the Democratic Party and your community.

It is an elected position, and you will get to vote for yourself in the August primary election. Better yet, you will probably win, since many precincts have more delegate seats than candidates!

Oh, and did I mention you can hone your resolution-writing skills? My meager self wrote two resolutions that were adopted at the Kent County Democratic Convention in February 2009 - they were then adopted at the State Convention a couple weeks later, all because I am a Precinct Delegate!

So, take advantage of these opportunities to move our Democratic Party in the direction YOU want it to move! Things will happen when YOU take the time to get involved.