By BTL Staff
With Labor Day behind us, we can expect to be bombarded with political ads, emails and robo-calls. It's so easy to become numb, to tune out – to feel like it is all way too invasive and obnoxious. It might be, but don't let it stop you from caring about this election cycle.
Here's what's at stake: Michigan has consistently voted Democratic in presidential elections for decades. In 2012, Obama won Michigan by 9 points – a huge margin in today's political environment. Yet every branch of our state government is controlled by the Republican Party – the governorship, the attorney general's office, the Supreme Court, the Michigan Senate and the Michigan House of Representatives.
This lopsided reality has historically been caused by low voter turnout, which was the case in 2010. In that last mid-term election, too many Democratic voters simply did not vote. The Republican base was energized by the new Tea Party movement and swept into all the state offices.
We cannot let this happen again in 2014.
Of course we call on all our readers to vote in November. But we want you to go at least one step further. Tell your family, friends and coworkers to get out and vote, write a check if you are able and find a campaign to volunteer for. You can also make a commitment to bring a date to the voting booth on Nov. 4.
In this upcoming cycle, if elected, Mark Totten – candidate for Attorney General – has vowed to drop the state's appeal in DeBoer v. Snyder, instantly bringing marriage equality to Michigan and stopping Bill Schuette's crusade to keep Michigan's marriage ban in place. Please tell your friends that candidate for governor, Mark Schauer, values LGBT people and their families, unlike Gov. Snyder who signed legislation stripping away health insurance for the same-sex partners of public employees and is the named defendant in Michigan's marriage equality lawsuit. Tell your neighbors that Richard Bernstein would be an excellent Supreme Court Justice who would help bring some balance to a court that has made rulings devastating to LGBT people, women, working families and the environment.
Volunteer for equality conscious candidates for the Michigan House and Senate, or give financial support to Joan Brausch's campaign. She is running against Gary Glenn for a seat in the Michigan House. Glenn, a full-time anti-LGBT activist, wants to re-criminalize homosexuality and drive LGBT people either into jail or out of Michigan.
So you have a choice. You can sit it out, tune it out and complain as the state continues to be controlled by people who deny you equality. Or you can get up, speak up, volunteer, write checks and make sure you vote – and that the people who care about you also know they need to vote for your equality too.
Throughout September, BTL will be researching and publishing endorsements and more information for November's races. Stay tuned and check out www.pridesource.com for the upcoming Voter's Guide.
