In a recent editorial meeting with the Michigan Chronicle, Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey said heading the largest election department in the state has prepared her to become the next Michigan Secretary of State. Winfrey said that as Detroit’s chief election officer she has been tested and knows what is required to oversee elections at the state level as well as guarantee the voting rights of the citizenry. Winfrey, who recently announced her campaign, said she has the judgment and the knowledge to be trusted with that office. She is one of two Democrats running for the position in the Democratic primary. The other candidate is Jocelyn Benson, a Wayne State University law professor and an election advocate.

Her name is Yasmine Joachim. She is Haitian. Her skin is dark. It is, like her native land, blacker than a thousand midnights. She arrived in Detroit only a few weeks after what is perhaps the worst earthquake in her country’s history. And she has witnessed and endured pain and tribulation that most people cannot even begin to imagine.

On the surface it all seems nice for the April 17 Michigan Democratic Party Endorsement Convention and the Jefferson-Jack Dinner. Supporters and loyalists are being told to come together and be fired up at Cobo Hall to take on the Republican candidates in the November general election in an unfavorable season for Democrats.

Robert Bobb, the emergency financial manager appointed to oversee the operations of the DPS, returns as a featured panelist for the first session of the Pancakes & Politics 2010 season on March 19, 2010, at the Detroit Athletic Club to address these issues and more. Bobb will join Wayne State University President Jay Noren and Wayne County Community College Chancellor Curtis Ivery on the panel.