Shortly before 2:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 2, to the cheers of "Go Gretchen go!" Gretchen Whitmer's gubernatorial campaign bus rolled up in front the ONE Campaign Office in Farmington Hills. As a part of the second day of the "Fix The Damn Roads Bus Tour," Whitmer was accompanied by just over a dozen other Democratic candidates. When she addressed the crowd her message was simple: vote on Tuesday.
"We are down to four days and change. We have been on this path for 22 months and all of the rallies, the women's marches, the health care rallies, the immigration protests, pride marches, Black Lives Matter, science marches, none of it matters if we don't keep our foot on the gas," Whitmer said.
Among other speakers at the event, candidate for secretary of state Jocelyn Benson echoed that sentiment, stating that the 2018 midterm election is the "precipice of a historic moment," much like many voters felt that the 2016 presidential election was.
"We had so much hope, so much expectation, so much excitement," Benson said. "No polls, no prognosticators, no pundits determine who wins an election. We do, the voters do and the people who show up and cast their ballots. That's who determines who wins. That's it. That's democracy and that's a beautiful thing, but remember what happened in 2016, truly ‘anything' did happen. And remember how you felt the day after that election."
After hearing from candidates like state Senate hopefuls Jeremy Moss and Julia Pulver, and former Gov. James Blanchard, Whitmer addressed the crowd with a final message.
"I just ask today that before you leave, you sign up for another shift, you think about what's your plan for Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. What can we do? So that this year, the day after the election we're going to feel exhausted the next morning, but we're going to feel damn good this time. Four days left of GOTDV: Get out the damn vote," Whitmer said.
