"Dean of the House" John Dingell Rallies Support at NAACP Event

John Dingell, the longest-running member of the U.S. House of Representatives, visited the NAACP Western Wayne Branch's Annual "Fighting for Freedom" dinner in Romulus, Michigan.

The "Dean of the House," according to his Wikipedia page, Dingell is currently involved in a battle to keep his seat in the 15th district of the U.S. House. His opponent, Republican Rob Steele, an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based cardiologist.

Dingell is of course a long-running Democrat and he was in the building to give a speech to the NAACP Western Wayne chapter at their dinner on Sunday, October 24 at the Crown Plaza Hotel ballroom.

A Dearborn resident, Dingell is currently locked in an election battle with Steele that some believe could end up being far closer than was originally expected. But a recent poll released by The Detroit Free Press and WXYZ-TV in Detroit showed that Dingell actually is projected to win by a fairly comfortable margin of somewhere in the 10-20 point range. The poll actually showed a 53-36 percent difference of Dingell to Steele.

Still, Dingell is a campaign veteran who is taking nothing for granted when it comes to Michigan and Wayne County voters in particular heading into the Nov. 2 election day.

His speech at the NAACP dinner focused on the importance of getting out the vote this year considering that turouts for non-presidential races are almost always low. Specifically, the Democratic Party is experiencing the backlash of the governorship of Jennifer Granholm.

While Granholm has put in a great deal of long-ranging economic projects to help diversify the Michigan economy that once had so many manufacturing jobs, there's no arguing that the pure numbers of Michigan economics are not in her favor as the state remains one of the most poor and is struggling with unemployment numbers the likes of which few other states can match.

The African American community in Michigan is known to vote Democratic, especially recently, and Dingell's speech at the NAACP dinner was no doubt designed to renew relations with the community in anticipation of the upcoming election season and in the hopes that more people would come out to vote for him this year. Voter pledges were passed out at the dinner as well and signed by those in attendance.

Dingell's campaign has been fairly quiet leading up to the election except for personal appearances. His lawn signs even have an understated look to them as they simply state his last name with few graphics and little supporting informaton, a sign that his campaign believes he can win on name recognition alone in the crucial race.

But he is now launching a furious rally, as well as the 84-year-old can that is, to try and defend his lead in the race against Steele and to get out the vote for Democrats in general.

Earlier in the day Dingell was expected to appear at a rally in Ann Arbor with former U.S. President Bill Clinton as well. Clinton also helped in a rally for Democratic candidate for governor Virg Bernero as well in an attempt to help Democrats make a run in Michigan in 2010.

Dingell has been serving since 1955 in the U.S. House and hopes to continue that run with another win this November.

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dingell
http://www.freep.com/article/20101022/NEWS15/10220399/1001/NEWS/Poll-shows-Dingell-leading-newcomer
Also attended the NAACP dinner in person.