Democrat Howard Dean to visit Ann Arbor next week for 'Moving Michigan Forward' rally
Howard Dean, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, is expected to appear at a Democratic Party rally next week in Ann Arbor.
Howard Dean
AP Photo
The "Moving Michigan Forward" event takes place at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 8 at Rackham Auditorium and is being sponsored by the College Democrats at the University of Michigan.
Doors open at 7:15 p.m.
"We all know that this election is one of the most important elections in the last couple of decades," said Brendan Campbell, College Democrats chairman. "It's such a critical time for the state of Michigan, so we wanted to host an event that would get people excited. It's about firing up voters and volunteers and making sure everyone's excited to get active and help us work to elect Democrats in the fall."
Tickets are free and can be reserved by going to the College Democrats website. Students and community members are welcome to attend.
Campbell said he hopes to fill Rackham Auditorium, which holds 1,125 people.
Dean, who served six terms as Vermont's governor from 1991 to 2003, ran unsuccessfully for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009 and became known in 2004 for his famous scream.
U.S. Congressmen Mark Schauer, D-Battle Creek, and John Dingell, D-Dearborn, also are expected to speak at the event. Schauer represents Michigan's 7th Congressional District, which includes parts of Washtenaw County. Dingell represents Michigan's 15th Congressional District, which includes Ann Arbor.
Schauer sent letters today to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Labor, calling for an investigation of allegations of undocumented workers being used to clean up the Enbridge oil spill.
“It’s outrageous that Enbridge allowed undocumented workers to be hired to clean up the spill, showing complete disregard for our country’s labor laws," Schauer said, adding that the situation is particularly troubling given the state's high unemployment rate. "Our workers have been turned away as undocumented workers were brought in on buses from Texas."
Schauer faces Republican Tim Walberg in the November election. Dingell faces Republican Rob Steele.
Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529.
Comments
bedrog
Wed, Sep 1, 2010 : 7:17 p.m.
speechless...im a liberal fan of dean's who likes him even better for the stance on which you criticize him. 'liberal' and kneejerk, naive kumbaya-ism aren't inevitable bedfellows ( despite claims to the contrary from both the far right and lately the far left). on the issue you raised the quite thoughtful,and hardly paranoid -redneck,Anti-Defamation League agrees with dean as does muslim scholar mansoor ijaz in a recent wahington post op ed. oh yeah...and also the Canadian Congress of Muslims who declared the project a 'fitna'...i.e needless provocatory mischief making.
Speechless
Wed, Sep 1, 2010 : 5:12 p.m.
Howard Dean deserves plenty of credit for developing a 50-state strategy in 2003-04. It worked effectively two years later during the mid-term Congressional elections, and two years after that it helped propel Obama to the party nomination and then to the White House. Around that same time Dean also first demonstrated the effectiveness of the internet as a major new platform for conducting national political campaigns. To the surprise of many then-skeptical politicians and journalists, he made it clear that the online world had evolved sufficiently for that to become reality. Dean can also be more conservative and more politically expedient than some of his liberal fans and right-wing critics realize. It was unexpected and disappointing, for example, when he recently caved in publicly to the fear-driven campaign against a planned Islamic community center in Manhattan.
bedrog
Wed, Sep 1, 2010 : 10:34 a.m.
somewhat concerned...to blame IBM vermont's fluctuating fortunes on DEAN or democrats.....and not on the wider IT and business ( and social)environment---is ludicrous. i was there when all of the build- up and downsize ( and then build up again) happened...and it was,and is, a see-saw trajectory that spans both parties gubernatorial incumbancies. but nevermind... keep on blamin'....although michigan should be so lucky as to have someone like dean as governor.
Somewhat Concerned
Wed, Sep 1, 2010 : 8:34 a.m.
Maybe he can do for Michigan what he did for Vermont: drive out the largest employer that offered the highest paying jobs - IBM. Vermont - the only state that rivals Michigan in its anti-jobs reputation. Maybe he wants to be our next Governor.
bedrog
Wed, Sep 1, 2010 : 8:24 a.m.
@inside...ive never seen rachel maddow ( i think she's on at the same time as 'deadliest catch'!), but hear she's bright/on point...so thanks. treetown...apologies if i over-interpreted you. but any fairminded person has to admit that excessive stridency and partisanship is now far more a republican/ libertarian than democrat phenomenon... also that both obama and dean have a record of overtures across the aisle that have been scornfully rejected in the first case and were quite effective in the second in the dim, rosy past in good ol' vermont.
treetowncartel
Wed, Sep 1, 2010 : 7:51 a.m.
I was only commenting on Mr. Dean and no one else, but please, continue to paint me into a corner if you must. I know it makes you feel good.
Top Cat
Wed, Sep 1, 2010 : 7:14 a.m.
There is a direct correlation between the volume of media play Howard Dean gets the likelihood the Republicans will take back the House. There is no defense for the failed Obama-Pelosi-Reid policies that have sent unemployment and the deficit through the roof. Keep it up Howard! November 2!
David Briegel
Wed, Sep 1, 2010 : 6:57 a.m.
Inside, you would have trouble keeping up with the Rhodes Scholar Maddow. She is not the blonde bimbo that Australian Rupert and his Saudi partner have spoon feeding you pablum on FAUX News! How many lies can we scare the angry white men with today?
Roger Roth
Wed, Sep 1, 2010 : 5:57 a.m.
I listened to Dean on Morning Joe this morning and thought, even if I hated the guy (and his scream), I still couldn't argue against his reason and intellect--well, I could, but I wouldn't get anywhere. Why can't people look beyond cosmetics and see genuine intellect. Dean might be the smartest politician (person in politics) in decades in this country? You have to wonder if that quality isn't a political liability.
InsideTheHall
Wed, Sep 1, 2010 : 5:54 a.m.
bedrog: What flavor is the Kool-Aid? Rachel Maddowlike post.
bedrog
Wed, Sep 1, 2010 : 5:41 a.m.
treetown..calm demeanor eh? like glenn ( 'we tea partiers caused the civil rights movement') beck ( or palin); or 'i hope he fails' limbaugh?; or 'you're doin' a heck of a job brownie' bush? or.. wait: doesn't obama sort of personify the FDR calmness and deliberateness you claim to admire? seems to me he does.... and yet his bashers haven't cut him a break from the get-go.
David Briegel
Tue, Aug 31, 2010 : 10:45 p.m.
Howard Dean is a great man and not one mention of his 50 state strategy that helped elect Obama over the dimwitted maverick! And Vermont gives us one of our most honest and decent public servants in Bernie Sanders. xmo, you are correct that it is upperclass, mostly Republican support of illegal maids, cooks, gardeners and chauffers that bring illegals to our nation!
stunhsif
Tue, Aug 31, 2010 : 9:32 p.m.
I have one thing to say: AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! The Dean Scream, this guy is the Republican party's best friend. The Democrat party would be smart to treat this guy like a mushroom, keep him in a dark, damp place.
treetowncartel
Tue, Aug 31, 2010 : 9:17 p.m.
Contain the exuberance and you might move forward in the national light, just look at "Slick Willie" as an example. People are not looking for a howling banshee when electing a president, they want someone with a calm demeanor. Remember Roosevelt's fire side chats?
bedrog
Tue, Aug 31, 2010 : 7:12 p.m.
roger...dean bashers should be reminded of dean's capacity for bipartisanship (without losing democrat principals...since as governor he was an early, proactive and very effective proponant of civil unions). he first came to the governorship on the death of the republican governor ( dean was the next in line although from the opposite party), but then went on to be reelected in his own right. but it's true that vermont often had a quirky,but enviable, record of such electorate willingness to cross doctrinal lines for a good candidate, also evidenced by socialist mayor---now senator--bernie sanders who always worked well with those in other parties. and i was in the audience when the late republican senator, george aiken, figuratively 'ripped a new one' on reagans flagrantly anti-environment secretary of the interior, james watt on the occasion of a public lecture at the state university. ( actually a question from me prompted this happy bipartisan event). the country and this area could learn alot from vermonter dean ( although even vermontophiliac me admits that calvin coolidge left alot to be desired.)
Roger Roth
Tue, Aug 31, 2010 : 6:48 p.m.
@bedrog I always admired Dean's intellect and political savvy. I agree; with help from the opposition, I think he'd have made a fine POTUS. But, I'm from your area, too, so maybe I'm biased.
Mikey2u
Tue, Aug 31, 2010 : 6:45 p.m.
Howard Dean is a good man and he would have been a great president.
Michael Rodemer
Tue, Aug 31, 2010 : 6:06 p.m.
Democrats in Iowa made a big mistake in 2004 when they didn't choose Howard Dean.
InsideTheHall
Tue, Aug 31, 2010 : 5:43 p.m.
Will Howlin Howie and the Bully share the same stage? What a green rally no need for electricity to power the speakers.
Macabre Sunset
Tue, Aug 31, 2010 : 5:26 p.m.
I still remember the "I had a scream" speech. I was paying close attention to the Iowa Caucuses, hopeful the Dems would put up a decent opponent to the Bush. It was jarring, unpresidential. I don't think too much was made of it at all. Certainly not by the opposition, unless you mean other Dems. It was too early to be any focus for the Reps.
xmo
Tue, Aug 31, 2010 : 4:54 p.m.
U.S. Congressmen Mark Schauer is calling for an investigation of allegations of undocumented workers being used to clean up the Enbridge oil spill. Unless this is "Arizona", you cann't ask them for their papers Congressmen Schauer. Besides they are not undocumented workers they are "undocumented Democrats". Sounds like a good comedy show with the "cazy man" Howard Dean attending and also the "living dead" John Dingell.
bedrog
Tue, Aug 31, 2010 : 4:37 p.m.
his 'annoying behavior' was simply an exhuberant victory yell which his critics from the nowadays (not-so??) loyal opposition made way too much of, while happily ignoring all the feet-in- mouth ( and heads anatomically elwhere) in their own ranks. he was a great governor in my home state of vermont, and he'd have been a good president too.
treetowncartel
Tue, Aug 31, 2010 : 4:21 p.m.
Welcome Mr. Dean, the man who singlehandedly gave the election away in 2000 with his annoying behavior. When will the Democratic party ever learn that putting people like this on a podium or pedestal loses them more votes than it gains.