Would I have preferred a different result?

Of course, I would.

The thing that I can take satisfaction in (and many others should, too), is that we did what we could to get the necessary signatures by the deadline. Speaking for my self (and I'll venture, many others) this was not an easy task with that pesky thing called work getting in the way.

I can at least take some satisfaction in doing what I could, instead of sitting on my hands bemoaning Obamacare and not doing anything at all.

It should also be mentioned that, there were many others who did a fantastic job with the petitions. One example is the gentleman mentioned yesterday afternoon on the State Capitol Steps, who got around 2,500 signatures. He really deserve kudos for his work.

Kudos also needs to go out to Wendy Day and those who were responsible for helping to create and  coordinate this petition drive, along with keeping things going over the past few months with the resources available.

Thank you for your work.

Allegan ... Barry ... Ionia ... Kalamazoo ... Kent ... Lake ... Mason ... Mecosta ... Montcalm ... Muskegon ... Newaygo ... Oceana ... Osceola ... Ottawa

. . . In actuality, Allegan, Barry, and Kalamazoo are properly Southwest Michigan, but were added on to my area of responsibility (apparently just because Wendy decided I needed a challenge).

Jeff Orzechowski (the Regional Field Manager of the Fix Michigan Center of West Michigan) and I led a volunteer staff of about 80 volunteers (not including 17 County and Town Coordinators).  I don't know exactly how many the Central-West team actually collected, because not everything came through my office, but I do know that Christie Whitehouse (our administrative aide-de-camp) reported up about 11,039 signatures to the state headquarters over the course of the signature campaign.

As far as the "data mining" paranoia goes, entering the contact information of people who signed the petition is a fairly common practice in signature-gathering campaigns.  This way, the campaign crew can stay in touch for follow up action (regardless of what that follow-up action might be).  The data gathered from the petitions isn't anything that isn't already public record, unless the signatories volunteered their phone numbers and e-mail addresses (which didn't happen that often).

Because of problems with the audio quality being unusable, the first few minutes of the video were clipped.

{Mistaking the MCHF for the SEIU, Capitol Police were on hand to help keep the peace, should things get out of hand.}

{People gathering before the Capitol Steps before things begin.}

{People talking before things begin.}

{One of the VOLUNTEER petitioners speaking about gathering signatures.}

{This is the gentleman that I mentioned who got something in the neighborhood of 2,500 signatures!!!}

{9/12 Project talking about gathering signatures.}

{In the back, the MCHF petitions. In front, a hard copy of the Obamacare bill. Scary, huh?}

{Michigan Senior Capitol Corespondent, Tim Skubick covering the event. It'll be interesting to hear his take on this tomorrow afternoon.}

Video - Part 1

Video - Part 2

Video - Part 3

Access to practically every one of these avenues has been restricted or stopped. While communication has been aided by the internet, the amount of coordination and the numberof those necessary to collect signatures has increased.