This past weekend five members of the LSSU Democrats traveled to the Michigan State University campus for Activate ’08, a series of training seminars that lasted from 9am to 4:30pm. The keynote speaker was Governor Jennifer Granholm, who spoke about the importance of blogging and the Internet in politics. She also spoke about environmental initiatives that she is trying to push through the legislature.

The LSSU Democrats were invited to the conference by Derek Dobies, the Youth Organizer for the Michigan Democratic Party. Dobies, a senior at the James Madison College at MSU, led one of the seminars, and his topic was ‘Mobilizing on Campus’, which helped the LSSU students understand some of the reasons why college students can be apathetic regarding politics, and strategies to get them enthusiastic about participating.

 Mark Brewer, the Chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, spoke to the group during lunch about the key state races that are going to be running this election season. He also discussed the key talking points that the Democratic Party is planning to use in the upcoming national races.

Amanda Stitt of the Granholm Leadership Fund and Don Defoe, Base Vote Organizer for the Michigan Democratic Party gave a presentation about the process of organizing an effective field campaign which the LSSU students found extremely interesting. Stitt and Defoe also spoke about the concept of ‘Get Out the Vote’ (GOTV), a strategy of targeted field work that typically takes place a few days before an election. 

Another interesting seminar taught the LSSU Democrats how to effectively use online social networks like Flickr, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter for political purposes. The speaker, Granhom Leadership Fund employee Jon VanDeventer, emphasized that these resources are cheap, focused, and can produce incredible results. A term used frequently at the conference in reference to online efforts was ‘viral’, referring to the rampant speed and sheer numbers reach of online mechanisms.

The LSSU Democrats that attended the conference came back to LSSU inspired and energized. One fact that was particularly exciting was the jobs in campaigns that are readily available for this year’s election season. Another inspiring comment came from a campaign manager in Detroit: 

“Politics is a field in which a highly motivated, hard-working person can rise relatively quickly into positions of real responsibility and influence.”

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