The Mackinac Bridge (File photo)
Journalistic excursions deep into Trump Country have their own mocking shorthand on lefty Twitter: "Cletus safaris." Today in the Free Press, Kathy Gray heads north into reddest Michigan in search of something else: Democrats.
She finds some:
Transplants from southeast Michigan and Chicago, who choose to retire to the place where they spent so many vacations, are transforming the demographics of the region into a place where Democrats are hoping to make some inroads into typically Republican territory.
Those transplants are connecting with like-minded Democrats who have lived in the region for decades, but may have been reluctant to speak out too loudly in the otherwise conservative environment.
You're a long way from Southeast Michigan, Democrats.
Gray sees the region as still conservative, but starting to percolate with small Indivisible groups and other liberal grassroots circles, loosely organized around a few key issues: Enbridge's Line 5 oil pipeline, health care and the state's decaying infrastructure, among others.
And even sparsely populated, aging, rural northern Michigan manages to mirror some national trends, illustrated in the political education of one retiree from West Bloomfield, who moved there and got Woke, as they say:
From passive retiree in early 2016, (Joyce Brodsky) has transformed into an activist who regularly protests and canvasses for Democratic candidates, proudly wears her hand-knitted pink pussy hat, made famous during the 2017 Women's March, and is planning to join other protesters and hit the streets if and when Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed as the next Supreme Court justice. She has also become a candidate herself.
“They got me on the ballot this year to run for precinct delegate,” she said. “And I won, but what my job is now, I’m not quite sure. I’m still learning.”
