Events and Activities Last Week

HARRIS ACCEPTANCE SPEECH WATCH PARTY

A small group of Houghton County Dems gathered at our headquarters / office in Hancock Thursday night to view VP Harris accept the Party’s nomination. What a speech!

HOUGHTON COUNTY FAIR

We had a great response from attendees at the Fair this year. We saw a lot of enthusiasm for Kamala - a large number of folks took their picture with her cardboard cutout. We signed up lots of volunteers and talked to many folks looking for yard signs. Candidate for State Representative Kim Corcoran showed up to talk with voters. And we received a plaque for 30 years of participation in the Fair!

DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION

Four days of joy and electrifying speeches dominated all of our attention last week. Are you feeling it too?? We couldn’t be more impressed by the way this convention came together four short weeks after President Biden made the selfless decision to pass the baton to Vice President Kamala Harris. And we couldn’t be more fired up to DO SOMETHING (more on that below) to help Kamala Harris and Tim Walz become the next President and Vice President of the United States.

If you missed some of the amazing speeches, or are looking back fondly wanting to relive a moment or two from the convention there are a few sources we can recommend.

First, the national Democrats have a National Convention YouTube channel, and there are playlists of all four day’s events. Plus you can also look back at the National Conventions of 2020 and 2016. Do you remember the Roll Call during COVID - the precursor and inspiration for this year’s musical roll call? It’s there on the video from Day 2 of the 2020 convention.

C-SPAN did an amazing job covering the Convention this year and has videos of committee and caucus meetings, news conferences, and individual speeches as well as the daily sessions. You can search their library of 2024 DNC videos here.

You can also scan the YouTube pages of the national broadcasters if you want to see the commentary of their moderators as the Convention unfolded. Here is the PBS Newshour’s YouTube playlist for DNC 2024 to get you started.

Campaign Season Begins in Earnest

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES ON THE ROAD THIS WEEK

With both parties’ conventions now in the history books the campaign season is fully underway.

HARRIS WALZ TOUR SOUTH GEORGIA

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz take their campaign bus on a tour of southern Georgia this week, culminating in a rally Thursday evening in the Savannah area. This will be the first time the two will campaign together in Georgia. The race in Georgia is tightening up and is a key focus for the Democratic ticket. The campaign currently has 50 full time staff in 7 offices across southern Georgia.

TRUMP BACK IN MICHIGAN ON THURSDAY

In the meantime Donald Trump has scheduled his third campaign visit in 9 days here in Michigan. He’ll be in Potterville - a small town west of Lansing - on Thursday to deliver remarks on “the economy, inflation and manufacturing.” The event is announced as being held at the Alro Steel company site in Potterville, so doesn’t appear to be a rally.

Trump was in Michigan last Tuesday at a Livingston County Sheriff’s Office facility in Howell. That visit led the State Bureau of Elections to open an investigation into Livingston County Sheriff Mike Murphy. It’s alleged that he violated the Michigan Campaign Finance Act by hosting the election event in a government facility. The Michigan Campaign Finance Act forbids public officials from using public resources to support or oppose political candidates and ballot questions.

It’s Time to DO SOMETHING!

THERE ARE ONLY 30 DAYS UNTIL ABSENTEE VOTING BEGINS…

With a Convention pep in our step and a boost to our candidate in the national polls we’re feeling good. BUT - time is running short to take action to make sure our good feelings lead to a good outcome.

National polls may show our candidate with a statistical tie or a lead but we know that doesn’t matter. Democrats have won more votes nationally in 7 of the last 8 Presidential elections. But despite having more votes nationwide two of our candidates still lost because the Electoral College makes the run for the Presidency a state by state race, not a national race. And the race in Michigan is expected to be tight.

Which means that we need to take all of our excitement about the top of the ticket, and, as Michelle Obama told us - DO SOMETHING!

Below are things you can do to help Democrats up and down the ballot this fall. We all need to do our part! Voter contacts are getting underway, here in Houghton County and nationally.

SUPPORT KAMALA HARRIS AND TIM WALZ:

• VOLUNTEER FOR THE HARRIS WALZ CAMPAIGN: You can sign up at the Take Action for Harris Walz webpage. Indicate your interest in attending an event, hosting an event, becoming a social media messenger or content creator, knocking on doors, making phone calls and more. If you’re a social media maven (or maybe even an influencer) who wants to sharpen your Harris Walz posting skills consider attending this Online Engagement training course, which is available at multiple times from now until Election Day.

• DONATE TO THE HARRIS WALZ CAMPAIGN: Every donation helps, from $5 to $1000 or more. Your donation will help pay for the campaign staff in battleground states and across the country to get out the word and get out the vote. It will help pay for advertising on television and social media. Donate to the official campaign donation page here.

SUPPORT OUR EFFORTS FOR STATE & LOCAL DEMOCRATS

• VOLUNTEER LOCALLY: Sign up on our Volunteer webpage to help the Houghton County Democrats knock on doors, host an event, help staff our local office, and more. If you already have volunteered, thank you! If you indicated that you'd be willing to phone bank, you'll likely be getting a call this week. We will be running our first phone bank this week end, calling Democrats in support of races in Calumet. Postcard mailings and door knocking are coming soon as well.

• DONATE LOCALLY: Donate to the Houghton County Dems to help us get out the vote for our local candidates.

• GET INFORMED: Our Houghton County Democratic Slate can be found here. The Slate can be printed and brought with you to your polling place. We are also preparing a bio webpage for local candidates which should be available within the next week or so.

OTHER RESOURCES

• Find events and volunteer activities near you through mobilize.us. Mobilize often lists opportunities for volunteering from home, like participation in virtual phone banks and postcard mailing blitzes.

• Another good resource for volunteer opportunities is Rogan’s List. This daily newsletter is led by Susan Rogan, a retired librarian turned political activist (by the election of Donald Trump). Her newsletter is filled with volunteer and educational opportunities to “save our democracy” by supporting progressive candidates and causes. You can check out the newsletter and subscribe on Substack - click here.

• Keep up to date on what’s going on in Michigan politics with insightful podcasts (available on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts) -

  • The Michigan Democratic Party produces Party on the Peninsulas covering events of importance to Democratic voters in our state.

  • A Republic if You Can Keep It comes from former Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer and former Executive Director of the Michigan Republicans Jeff Timmer, and provides excellent Michigan political analysis and commentary each week.

  • Veteran radio broadcaster Pat Johnston produces Left of Lansing, billed as “Michigan’s Premier Progressive Podcast”. Opinionated and analytical, the podcast has multiple episodes each week (some as short as 5 minutes).

Labor Day Weekend Picnic Coming Up Quickly!!

ANNUAL LABOR DAY PICNIC THIS SUNDAY 

Each year we gather over Labor Day Weekend to picnic and connect as we head into the heat of the fall campaign season. Join us at 4 PM on Sunday, September 1 at Kestner Park Pavilion!

Our Next Monthly Meeting

HCDP Monthly Meetings: Unless otherwise communicated our monthly meetings are held the first Wednesday of each month. Potluck at 6 PM, Meeting at 7 PM. In the conference room at the Houghton Super 8, and by Zoom (starting at 7 PM).

NEXT MEETING: September 4th

Governmental & Community Meetings

WED AUG 28

The Houghton City Council meets at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The Meeting Agenda can be found in the Searchable Document Center of the Council's website.

Governmental meetings are scheduled throughout the month by bodies from the County Commission to City, Village and Township boards, committees and commissions; as well as local School Boards and the Copper Country Intermediate School District.

Check by phone or on the particular governmental website for meeting notices in your community. Your participation in local government meetings lets your elected and appointed officials know you are interested in their work, and can provide you with the opportunity to speak about your concerns during public comment periods