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Below is information on MI4CS, the tea party effort to unite behind a conservative candidate and retire liberal U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow.
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Patriots,
MI4CS is moving forward! We have made some great progress and I am excited to share it with you. A debate has been scheduled for the afternoon of January 14th to take place in the library at Central Michigan University from 1-3pm. The debate will be broadcast live on Patriot Voice Radio Network heard on WMKT, 1270 a.m., and 92.1 F.M and streaming live on the internet via Skype.The following candidates have accepted the invitation: Randy Hekman, Scotty Boman, Clark Durant, Gary Glenn and Chuck Marino. Peter Konetchy declined, Peter Hoekstra and Rick Wilson did not respond.
There are a number of different teams working to make MI4CS a reality. The groups are the Debate team, Research team, Vetting team, Writing team, Prayer team and the District Communication Reps. If you or someone in your group would like to get involved with MI4CS, it is NOT too late. Let me know of any interest and we will get you hooked up with the right people.
If you have any questions about MI4CS please do not hesitate to call or email me. If I cannot answer your question or concern straight away I will take it to the larger group of District Communications Reps and we will discuss it and get you an answer. I would be happy to stop by your group meeting and answer any questions your group may have or assist you in clarifying the purpose, structure, goal, etc. of MI4CS.
Below is a letter written by Eileen IIler, District 1 communications rep. If you have encountered any questions in your groups about the structure of MI4CS this letter may help.
All your efforts toward making MI4CS work are greatly appreciated! I am anxious to hear about what is happening in your groups as far as straw poll votes and vetting processes, etc. Any feedback would be great.
Wishing you all a very happy New Year!
Heather McLeod
District 5 Communication Rep
MI4CS
989 274-5279
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Tea Party MI4CS representatives,
We would like to address some questions about the MI4CS framework especially for those who missed the Dewitt meeting.
Just like the grassroots movement, this is bottom-up politics. Your tea party members communicate with you. Tea Party Representatives (TPR) give input to your District Communication Representative (DCR). Your DCR communicates your ideas, questions, and concerns with Cindy and each other. Cindy communicates with representatives from the vetting, research and writing committees who also communicate with DCR's. Your DCR communicates with you for input on issues to be discussed at the next conference call. During the conference call, each DCR reports the input from the TPR's in their district. If there is not consensus, there is lengthly discussion to find solutions. All DCR's have input.
Communication is key to achieve our goal to help retire Senator Stabenow and send a senator to Washington who will represent the people of Michigan . We would like to thank the representatives from the TEA Parties who have done a great job at getting consensus and feedback from their groups. This is important in keeping this grassroots. Please make sure that your membership is up to date and getting their input in the process.
Just like each state has 2 senators, each tea party has 2 representatives in the MI4CS straw poll. MI4CS does not have the means to measure the number of active tea partiers in each group. Therefore MI4CS has been set up like a senate in a representative republic, not a democracy.
We are all volunteers. We are working hard to put together the details for MI4CS. In order to succeed, we need for you to please communicate with your DCR. We don't want to get lost in the details and lose sight of the bigger picture: true grassroots volunteers from all over this great state cooperating to enhance the chance to regain our representation in this senate seat.
We hope this clears up any questions.
Sincerely,
District 2 - Bob Carr - Oceana TEA Party
District 12 - Joe Baulbis
District 13 - Still needs rep
District 14 - still needs rep
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The Vetting team is on fire! They have prepared a questionaire for the candidates and are currently working on debate questions. Take a look at the attachment below from Don Jakel, captain of the vetting team. Please distribute this to all your members to keep them up to date on the various vetting tools being made available to them.
To MI4CS Members,
The vetting team has been accumulating videos of forums and debates and soliciting and editing questions to present to candidates. The videos and links are on the vetting team forum on the MI4CS website and will be posted in the public forum on the site within the next few days. A final draft of the 20 questions will be ready to send to candidates for their response by Friday, Dec. 30. They will have two weeks to reply. We will post their answers in the public forum on the MI4CS website.
The iCaucus interviews are completed and available to listen to by registering on their website at http://icaucus.org There is no membership fee or contribution required to join at the present time. The 1st two phases of iCaucus vetting of 7 of the 8 U.S. Senate candidates has been completed. Rick Wilson was unable to respond within the ample time allotted. The 7 have answered our newly revised 50 questions and all 7 have been interviewed. They were asked the same 24 questions in the 45 minute interviews. Their bios, website links, Candidate Qualifying Questionnaire (CQQ) scores and interviews are posted on their page on the site. Once you are registered and logged in, point to RESOURCES at the top right on any page; then on the drop down menu, click on State Races 2012, then click on Michigan Races. Click on a candidate to bring up their page. In order to listen to the interview, download the video player, save it and run it. Then click on the arrow and enjoy each interview. Use the backspace arrow to get back to the race page. Please listen to all 7 so you will be well informed and can compare and contrast each candidate.
On 12/28/2011, we began the conference period during which you may comment on the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate in the comment section on their page. Please be civil. Name calling and unsubstantiated allegations are unacceptable and may be removed. Following the conference period, there will be a 1 week voting period for iCaucus members registered before 12/28/11. We cannot allow new members after that date to vote in this race due to campaigns already attempting to flood the zone with their volunteers. Candidates and their staff members will not be allowed to vote. If one candidate receives 60% or more of the members' votes, they will become our endorsed candidate. If no one gets 60%, we will have a run off of the top two. If neither achieves 60%, we will not endorse in this race. The most important thing for MI4CS members is not this endorsement vote but that you use the interviews as a tool to evaluate the candidates.
ICaucus is an all volunteer organization. Please consider helping in some capacity so we can continue to grow beyond our 1,000 mI members to vet and elect as many state and federal Constitutional candidates as possible. Future member newsletters will explain our departments and volunteer opportunities and how to navigate other parts of the website. For now, please join and listen to the interviews and comment.
The goal of all 19 of us on the vetting team is to provide as much information as possible so each member of each tea party can make an informed vote, whether it is on iCaucus, the MI4CS convention, the primary or the general. Please forward this vetting team update to all the members of your group.
Don Jakel
Vetting Team Captain
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