Follow the money

Changing energy policy in our country is very, very difficult. There are many things that make it so hard but the main impediment is the staggering amount of money that Big Oil companies and utility companies spend to fight any change from the status quo.

Nowhere is this more true at the moment than the fight against Proposal 3 – a ballot proposal to increase Michigan’s use of renewable energy to 25% by 2025. When you vote on November 6th, you should turn the ballot over to vote in the nonpartisan section and VOTE YES ON PROPOSAL 3.

All the details after the jump.

The last of the truly reasonable Michigan Republicans…

When I was just a lad and an aspiring activist, I volunteered for a group called “The Three O’Clock Lobby”. It was a youth-run, youth advocacy group and we endeavored to make sure the voice of young people was represented in policy-making, law-making, and government in general.

It was during my time there that I first met Governor William Milliken when I and another young person asked him to wear a button saying “I support youth participation” at a celebration of the International Year of the Child (this event is actually mentioned in the Wikipedia article.) Milliken was not only a really nice and sweet man, he was a listener and he was reasonable. Considered a moderate, a man with his approach to leadership and governance would have no home in the Republican Party today, especially not in Michigan. William Milliken was willing to compromise and there’s no compromising in today’s Republican Party.

Today, Professor Bridget McCormack, candidate for the Michigan Supreme Court, announced that she has received the endorsement of William Milliken. It’s a clear sign of where things are in Michigan today, politically-speaking.

More after the jump.

An excellent candidate interviewed by an excellent blogger

Ypsilanti blogger (and my good friend) Mark Maynard of the most-excellent MarkMaynard.com recently interviewed Dr. Syed Taj, candidate for Michigan’s 11th Congressional District. After Thaddeus McCotter resigned his seat in disgrace after his campaign staff engaged in egregious election fraud, Dr. Taj found himself in a race against Tea Party activist Kerry Bentivolio and white supremacist Daniel Johnson. Dr. Taj is an excellent Democrat and, with some good fortune and good Democratic turnout, is likely to be the next Congressman from MI-11.

After the jump, you’ll find Part 1 of Mark’s interview with Dr. Taj with a link to Parts 2 & 3.

For the next few weeks, act like a Republican Republicans must be nervous. Just as he did before the Ryan/Biden debate, Matt Drudge is going after the moderator of the next debate. This is what Republicans do. They do everything to raise doubts when they may lose and, when they lose, they never admit defeat. As Joe Biden was walloping […]

Last chance!!!

Today is the last day of our fourth quarter fundraiser and your last chance to enter the drawing for a set of two signed photomosaic posters of President Obama. We’ve spent the week making the case for your financial support. Now it’s up to you to decide if you’re willing to be part of supporting what we do here.

Details about the drawing and how you can contribute after the jump.

Another superb candidate for the State Supreme Court in Michigan

Connie Marie Kelley is currently a judge in the Wayne County Circuit Court. She was endorsed and nominated by the Michigan Democratic Party for the Michigan Supreme Court along with Bridget Mary McCormack (interview HERE) and Shelia Johnson (interview HERE.)

Like the other two MDP-endorsed candidates for the state’s highest court, Judge Kelley comes from a background that makes her unique suited and qualified to be a state Supreme Court justice. She has spent her career advocating for clients as an attorney and making the justice system more accessible for those who use it as a judge. She has represented a wide variety of clients including victims of domestic violence, those who have experienced discrimination, and workers who have been treated unfairly by their employers. In her personal life, she has seen the impact that drug abuse can have on families and has used that experience to help young people find other paths, serving as a mentor and teacher to young people from urban areas.

The full interview is after the jump.

This is hard work – your support helps make it possible

With Election Day right around the corner, things are in full swing at Eclectablog. In addition to our daily drumbeat to re-elect President Obama and to do everything in our power to keep Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan as far from the reins of power as possible, we’re also bringing you information about the candidates and ballot initiatives that will appear on the ballot. These are rehashes of articles others have written — these are interviews done by us and analysis by us — the type of original content you’ve come to expect from Eclectablog.

Some of the exciting things coming up this week and information on how to make a contribution to help us keep things going after the jump.

We’ve seen this type of thing before..

Reader Greg S. sent me a link to this astonishingly creepy video from a group that calls themselves “im2moro” (“I’m tomorrow”, get it?) It has a bunch of teenagers imploring adult voters to vote to preserve conservative values by electing conservative politicians. But it goes way beyond that. It’s so over the top that it reminds me of the type of propaganda you’d expect from the Third Reich Nazis, brainwashing children into a passionate and unquestioning nationalism.

The video and commentary after the jump.

Here’s some good news: The most watched moment of the vice-presidential debate also appears to be one of Joe Biden’s best. When the subject finally turned to the economy, the vice-president gave a two-minute answer that did three crucial things. First, it gave a cohesive narrative of the economy over the last four years, then he called out Mitt Romney’s […]

Oops, we did it again

I’ll keep the blah, blah to a minimum today. You know why we’re doing this: blogging doesn’t pay much and we have expenses to pay. We’ve already made a lot of improvements but, as yesterday showed, when we get slammed by traffic, the servers we’re on still struggle to keep up. At one point yesterday, this piece was getting over 500 hits per minute and the server said “screw it” and shut down. Poor thing. The next step for us will cost money.

So, that’s why we come to you four times a year to ask you to ask for your help. Every little bit helps. If you get value from what we do at Eclectablog, please consider making a donation. Details are after the jump.

Dude totally got Bidened…

The epic performance last night by Vice President Joe Biden is destined to go down in history as one of the finest debate showings ever. Three things conspired against Congressman Paul Ryan: the truth, a debate opponent well prepared with facts and a ‘tude, and a debate moderator that was skilled and educated enough not to put up with any bullshit. This perfect storm left Ryan flopping on the beach like a fish, mouth gawping for air, completely knocked out of his zone.

It’s not easy to debate someone who tells lie after lie after lie. You risk spending your entire time refuting the lies without ever getting your own message out. Last night, Joe Biden taught us how to do it. He started out grinning whenever Ryan lied. By the end, he was openly laughing and, in what was almost like a live-tweeting of his own debate, responded in the background to each lie that rolled out of Ryan’s mouth with a refutation so that, when it was his own turn, he could actually deliver his message.

Much more after the jump.