Make a difference!

Here are our Top Ten actions you can take, now...

1. Run for local office or support a political campaign.
Northern Michigan needs more of us sitting on boards and commissions-and you may be surprised at how well qualified you, your friends and your family are for these jobs. Often, boards meet only monthly, and the workload is manageable. We'll be updating this list regularly (feel free to notify us of deadlines for local seats and campaigns that need our support) Local party officials, meanwhile, are constantly working to ensure local election success.Contact your county's representative, below, to volunteer or donate:
• Antrim (Shirley Williams at swilliams@torchlake.com)
•GT (Julie Nelson at mk6563@hotmail.com)
• Benzie (Carroll Volpe at mcvolpe@centurytel.net)
• Leelanau (Jon Boulton at boultjon@aol.com))

2. Write a letter.
Get loud! Express your feelings on local, state and national issues with a letter to the editor. Take 10 minutes to write down your opinions on issues you feel most strongly about, whether it's never-ending war, torture, Alaskan drilling, Social Security reform, attacks on choice and gays, and so on. Short on time? Take five minutes and send a short, anonymous opinion via the TC Record-Eagle's "Sound Off" forum. 

Antrim, Benzie and Leelanau—
Leelanau Enterprise,
Antrim County News,
Town Meeting (Elk Rapids),
Leader (Torch Lake),
Benzie County Record-Patriot

Grand Traverse—
Traverse City Record-Eagle,
Northern Express,
Traverse Magazine,
Grand Traverse Business News,
Bay Area Times,
Third Eye,
Prime Time News,
Grand Traverse Woman,
Families First Monthly,
Healing Garden

Elsewhere in northern Michigan—
Cadillac News,
Gaylord Herald Times,
Leader & Kalkaskian,
Ludington Daily News,
Manistee News-Advocate,
Petoskey News-Review,
Mackinaw Journal
Lake County Star,
Charlevoix Courier,
Missaukee Sentinel

College publications—
Kirtland Chronicle,
Torch (Ferris),
White Pine Press (NMC),
NMC Magazine

Television—
WPBN-WTOM TV 7&4,
WGTU /WGTQ TV ABC 29&8,
9&10 News,
FOX 33 - WFQX-TV

3. Keep talking - to everyone.
Conversation is the key to resolving issues and to creating better policy. Be a part of it! Keep conversations going with friends and family about more compassionate, more responsible, more common sense approaches to national and local policy. Let it be known that you vote blue and you care.

4. Call Ron Jolly in the morning.
He hosts a talk show every morning on WTCM-AM (580), covering local and national politics. We think even Ron must be getting bored with the GOP spin from all his "regulars." Mix it up and give him a call at 947-0023. His show runs from 7:30 to 10 am.

5. Show up at meetings.
The best way to ensure government accountability is to show up for it, as in meetings. Remember, local government can have a tremendous impact on your everyday life. Commit to one evening a month to observe, evaluate and report on an issue or board that you care about.  Check with your local clerk's office for meetings schedules. Get a group together and draw up a roster so you've got your municipality covered.

6. Contact a lawmaker.
Your elected representatives need to hear your opinion on matters they're voting on, bills that will become laws that affect life and how you live it. Take five or 10 minutes to tell congress members or state legislators how you feel, so they can adequately represent you. Follow this link for a list of our lawmakers and their addresses. Not sure who's representing you?
Find yours by zip code. 

7. Keep abreast of issues.
Visit our list of active organizations in the Grand Traverse region and elsewhere. These groups provide an abundance of information and action opportunities. Soon we will launch a feature to make tracking local issues easier, so please check back, and be sure to sign up for our mailing list and to alert us to local issues and events.

8. Donate—time, money, and support—to existing causes.
This linked list of organizations is not necessarily partisan—we just like how they stand on issues.

9. Spend ... liberally
You can vote blue, day after day, with your consumer dollars. We recommend shopping locally, whenever possible. (but if a business's politics offend you-let them know how you feel.) The following websites track corporations for their blueness.

Choose the Blue says: "If every American who voted for Kerry spends $100 on a blue company ...we can move $5 billion away from Republican companies. ... This will be noticed!"

Spending Liberally keeps tabs on FOX News sponsors and advocates directing your spending to "punish" them.

Never Surrender has a list of "worst corporations."

10. Get on our mailing list
Use our contact link to send us your email address. When we launch our online issue tracker, we'll let you know!