To help motivate Detroiters, and Michiganders (Michiganians?), as well as show some support for his candidate of choice (Barack Obama), Jay-Z will be in town performing a FREE concert. The concert takes place in Cobo Arena and all you need to do to check out this show is pick up your FREE ticket at one of the many offices of the Campaign for Change found in Detroit, Dearborn, Southfield and Wayne County’s Canton Township. So what are you waiting for? Go get those tickets!

I don’t know about y’all, but hopefully I’ll be able to make it and maybe I’ll even see you there.

Today, I attended a volunteer training session at Obama HQ* in Detroit (near the Fisher Building) to help canvass for voter registration.

I was shocked to hear from our Field Organizer that there are almost 180,000 eligible but unregistered voters in Detroit. That’s a lot of people!

But registering to vote is extremely easy. Here are a few ways:

1. Print out this form, and send it in to the Secretary of State. All the information you need is there, but please be sure to fill out the form completely or else your registration may be thrown out.

2. Contact your local Obama headquarters (see a list here) and ask for a voter registration form to be sent to you. They will be sure to get you a voter registration form and may deliver one personally.

3. Register to vote with one of the many volunteers out there with clipboards full of blank registration forms. You’ll find us (for I am one of them) at local festivals or knocking door to door, outside of grocery stores and churches and banks. Be nice to us. We’re just trying to do our part for America.

And if you’re already registered to vote, take 10 minutes of your time to email your friends or call your family to ask if they’re registered to vote. You may be surprised to learn that they aren’t registered.

Here are a few other facts about voter registration:

• If you’ve moved to a new address within 60 days of the election (ie, if you moved after Sept 7), you can vote using your former residence as your official voting address. However, please keep in mind that you must vote at the polling place where you are registered. For example, if you move from Ferndale to Detroit after Sept 7, you can keep your voter registration in Ferndale, but you must go back to Ferndale on election day to vote. This is particularly important if you move after October 6, because you can still change your voter registration to your new residence between Sept 7 and Oct 6.
• If your house is on a foreclosure list, you can still claim that address to vote. You may have heard of this Republican effort to keep people away from the polls. Please don’t let anyone intimidate you. Know your rights and vote your interests. (And to any of you people out there who don’t think this election matters, this attempt to suppress voting just goes to show how serious this election is).
• A homeless person can claim a local church or shelter as their permanent address, enabling them to vote in the election.

The election is less than 2 months away. It’s time to start working. Volunteer some of your time, or at least do your part to talk to you friends, family, and neighbors to make sure they’re registered to vote.

If you have any voter registration stories or ideas, feel free to comment below.

^{*I personally support Barack Obama for President. These opinions are my own and not necessarily the opinions of my fellow writers or Metroblogging.}

I don’t know why, but it was comforting to come across this AP story and read about cities like Newark and Austin, both of whose mayors are currently embroiled in scandals. Unfortunately, it seems that, like Kwame, neither of these mayors has resigned.

Do you disagree? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Share them in the comments section below.

It will be interesting to see whether the mayor can appeal the judge’s decision from earlier today, and if not, what the sealed documents contain. I have a feeling there’s a lot more to this story than we currently know…

After reading the Free Press article which brought this scandalous story to light, I believe she should have. But why wait three business days to address the public? (Er, I guess she didn’t really address the public, either — she wrote the letter to the mayor and his office released the information — but that’s another story).

I hate to be blunt about it because Beatty is a human being and we all have faults, but running scared and hiding is the last thing she or the mayor should be doing. And another thing: did they not think someone would find out what kinds of text messages they were sending with city-issued cell phones? Do they not know that these types of records are open for anyone to look into? If it hadn’t been the Free Press, WXYZ-Channel 7’s snooping Dennis Wilson would have cracked this scandal soon enough. He has made his life’s work out of catching the mayor doing things wrong. Not that it’s been that difficult.

Who knows?

But it’s clear that the GOP primary will be very long, very heated, and very expensive. With nothing to gain by voting between Hillary or Uncommitted, I have a feeling that Michigan Democrats did what they could to help their party.

While I would rather have had a true Democratic Primary in Michigan as well, the decision to move our primaries up to January 15 was a success because it made our issues the issues of the American political media for a solid week. We do need more economic stimulus and a fair playing field for the American auto industry. We do need job growth and an end to the stream of foreclosures plaguing the state. And for a week, the nation listened and took notice. One week on the national platform may not be much, but it’s more than all of the Super Tuesday states will get.

Michigan’s primary election takes place this Tuesday, January 15, and as many of you know, the Democratic choice will be between Hillary Clinton and Dennis Kucinich (and “Uncommitted,” if you really want to vote for Obama and Edwards, but can’t). THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT: DO NOT WRITE IN A CANDIDATE’S NAME ON THE BALLOT. YOUR BALLOT WILL BE TOSSED. (I don’t know why this is. I haven’t been able to figure out. But everyone says it’s true, so don’t do it.)

But there is one other choice….

Michigan Democrats can make a difference in the overall election after all. The beauty part of Michigan’s primary election rules is that you can cast a ballot for either party, no matter your party affiliation. And since Hillary will be the winner anyway, why not shake things up in the Republican primary, by voting for Mitt Romney.

Daily Kos, a popular Progressive blog, is rallying the troops to upset the Republican election like we did in 2000 when our state went for John McCain over George W. Bush, after then Governor John Engler (remember that scumbag?) “guaranteed” a win the Bush.

Here’s why you may want to vote for Romney:

The longer the Republican primaries go on, the more money they’ll spend and the more they will attack each other, viciously. Mitt Romney has pulled his money out of other states and has bet his political future on Michigan this Tuesday. If he wins, he stays in. If he loses, he lost for good. The longer he’s in, the better for the Democrats.

So by voting Romney, it turns out that the Democrats in Michigan can effect change with their primary vote.

If you feel particularly strongly about Hillary, then by all means vote for her. But instead of voting for “uncommitted” and hoping the Democratic party gives back some of Michigan’s delegates at the convention, why not shake things up a bit?

I know, I know. If you do vote for Romney, you may feel a little dirty and in need of a shower after leaving the polls. However, if you want real change in Washington, if you want to hold the Bush Administration accountable for every pernicious lie and abuse of power over the past 8 years, then the “big picture” candidate for Michigan Democrats is Mitt Romeny.

On WDET today, I heard the pompous Bishop say that it’s not the job of the Senate to get in the middle of Democrat’s affairs and that such a vote would be keeping the legislature from discussing more pressing issues, like the never-ending state budget negotiations. Like most political talk meant to divert citizens from understanding the true motives behind a decision, Bishop makes a somewhat-valid point. However, the Republicans have something to gain by not allowing the Democrats to have a primary with a full slate of candidates.

Michigan election laws allow citizens to vote in either party primary, regardless of one’s party affiliation. Since Hillary is basically a lock to beat Dennis Kucinich, many Independents and Democrats may spend their votes on the Republican primary. Thus Republicans can argue that higher poll numbers shows that Michigan is leaning Republican. In addition, the Republicans will be able to flout the fact that they provided Michigan citizens with a true primary, that Republicans were unafraid to challenge Iowa and New Hampshire by coming to Michigan. They can claim that the Democrats really don’t care as much about Michigan’s people as the Republicans do. Based on recent Republican policies and actions, this is patently untrue to me, but they will make the argument nonetheless.

I certainly would have liked to have had a true Democratic primary here in Michigan with all of the candidates on the ballot. However, four candidates decided that they couldn’t suffer the backlash from Iowans and New Hampshirites should they leave their small, un-diverse populations to run in a state that actually matters in the general election and better represents the country as a whole. As much as I respect all four candidates (and I’m rather partial to Richardson), I feel that this was an act of political cowardice.

I was kind of on the fence about Hillary, but at least she didn’t chicken out, and it doesn’t seem as though there has been any backlash in Iowa or New Hampshire (although she has refrained from paying the Mitten a visit). She’s got guts, she’s smart, and she’ll make a good president.

So on the 15th, I’m going to go into the voting booth and press my pointer finger on the electronic screen next to the “Hillary Clinton” box with pride. I’m not a betting man, but I’ll put my odds on Hillary by a landslide.