And suddenly Michigan's Primary is a battleground... for the Democrats!
By RightMichigan.com Posted in Barack Obama | Breaking News | Hillary | January 15 | John Edwards | Michigan | Primary — Comments (8) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Promoted from blogs. - Moe Lane
Cross-posted on Right Michigan at www.RightMichigan.com.
There'll be endless analysis in the next week about what went right and what went wrong in New Hampshire and where each candidate stands heading into Michigan. And it'll take some time for a conventional wisdom to form and when it does, if it's anything like what happened between Iowa and the Granite State it'll be all wrong. But one thing has already become clear and it's maybe more surprising than any final result come next Tuesday.
Michigan has become a battleground state for the Democrats. A serious grassroots movement started last weekend to encourage Obama and Edwards supporters to vote "Uncommitted" during next Tuesday's election and the effort is on the verge of garnering some high profile political support and the MSM "earned media" attention that goes with it.
Months ago when the Democrat National Committee barked orders and demanded that the Dem candidates swear of Michigan they each complied. Not one of them, save Dennis Kucinich, has so much as hinted at a possibility they might visit our State. In essence they flipped us the bird.
The DNC wasn't going to award them delegates, they reasoned, so why spend the time or the effort (though, it should be noted, the RNC threatens to strip delegates from Michigan too but that hasn't stopped the veritable barnstorming we've seen from Mitt Romney and John McCain with sundry visits by various other candidates as well). Of course, a few of them (Obama, Edwards and Richardson) decided to add insult to injury by stripping their own names off our ballot. And that makes two middle fingers straight in the air.
In the rubble of the Democrat field only Hillary Clinton, little Denny, Mike Gravel and "the late" Chris Dodd remained on the ballot. Democrats decried the unfairness of the situation and the pundits and experts started making predictions. The Democrat race doesn't matter, they said. It's Hillary's in a landslide. After all, she was endorsed by Jennifer Granholm.
But then something interesting happened. A man named Barack Obama won the Iowa caucuses and became hailed by the media as the next political rock star. In fact, some on MSNBC were actually referring to him as the "Barackstar." I know, pithy, right? This was before Brian Williams announced to the world that NBC correspondents were suffering a severe case of man-love for their new American idol.
With Obama's almost shocking second place finish in yesterday's New Hampshire contest (he was predicted to win by double digits in most talking-head panels leading up to election day) the new "political hotness" (h/t E.M.) finds himself suddenly crestfallen and no longer the clear favorite in the Dem contest. He needs to stymie Hillary's momentum. He needs another big shock and another big surprise.
Enter: Michigan.
With Hillary Clinton the only big name on the Democrat ballot she's a lock, right? Wrong. Lansing insider publications MIRS and Gongwer are reporting that a press conference could be held on the steps of the Capitol as early as tomorrow announcing a formal "Vote Uncommitted" campaign. Senators Tupac Hunter and Buzz Thomas are rumored to be in league with Representative Fred Miller in an effort to unite Obama and Edwards voters against Hillary Clinton. Their message: Democrats HAVE A CHOICE on Tuesday!
The hot rumor in Lansing these last couple days is that they might not be alone. No one less important than House Speaker Andy Dillon, long quiet in this particular endorsement game, is rumored to be jumping onboard the Barack Hussein-Train.
The Ed Sarpoluses of the world will tell you that any sub 70% finish by Hillary Clinton would have been embarrassing to the Senator and to Jennifer Granholm but the prospect of losing? Never crossed their minds. But suddenly Hillary's supporters are facing a battle. A battle against, literally, NO ONE.
It's a battle that Jennifer Granholm and Hillary Clinton's supporters didn't think they'd have to fight and it's a battle they very well could lose. Think that would put a dent in that air of inevitability? Almost makes a guy consider crossing party lines.
If Hillary Clinton loses to "Uncommitted" there is NO silver lining for her in Michigan. None.
--Nick
www.RightMichigan.com
The more Democrats and Independents that vote in the Democratic primary the less they can muck with the Republican one.
Anyone in MI can vote in EITHER primary. Hello..in 2000 Mccain took the Republican primary because DEMS voted in our primary.
The dems WILL vote and pick a Republican ballot and choose Huckabee , because they would rathe see him then McCain.
I lived in MI all My life, until just 2 months ago. I still own a house there and am voting in the primary. We just put our ballots in the mail for Romney.
Dems in MI are so RESENTFUL of anyone who succeds it isn't funny. I know the Unions are probably mailing out stuff right now telling thier members to vote for Huckabee. And like lemming they will. It is truly sick. But Michigan is a sick state. Don;t be surprised is Romney doesn't come in third.
And it will not have anything to do with him.
Please...all you people are getting it WRONG..The pudants will too.
But the difference between this year and 2000 is that the Democrats also have a primary to suddenly worry about. In 2000 the Democrats caucused in Michigan while the GOP held an open primary. In other words, Dems got to vote twice.
They changed the rules this time around.
And while I don't put anything like what you described PAST the unions, they have not done any such mailings to this point. Believe me, I'll let you know if they do.
--Nick
www.RightMichigan.com
current state of life in Michigan?
I know things are a freaking mess (I have lenders who will not write mortgages in most of the state), but what's the "reality". Is the rank and file fed up with Miss Jennie yet? Will the economic conditions translate into R votes or will the folks just vote D because they think they're not getting enough help from DC?
____
CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
Sorry, but I think you're placing too much importance on this. HRC isn't even campaigning in Michigan. If uncommited won by pure coincidence, then there might be a story, but if you have state representatives and congressman actually campaigning for uncommited while Hillary does nothing, then it might amount to a footnote in a news segment. It could also backfire massively, assuming the campaign for uncommited gets news coverage and it loses, which it very likely will. As it is rank and file Democrats have a larger support for Hillary, and independants will likely vote Republican, but add to that the fact that Obama and Edwards chose to take their names off the ballot and you probably have some Democrats who are pretty miffed at them now. The most you'd get is hardcore supoorters of Edwards and Obama, and even then Democrats would probably feel better disrupting the Republican primary then anything else.
I live in Fl and I can't wait to vote for Mick Romney. I am an Evangelical Christian, but I am not voting for a pastor in chief. I am voting for a commander in chief.
I don't like Huckabee's stand on taxes and immigration.
I don't like John McCain's stand on Campaign Finance and Immigration. He is a traitor to conservatives.
I think its time we had a businessman as president. Mick Romney saved the olympics so I am sure he could do alot for our deficit.
We do not need anymore career politicians in Washington.
The Democrats stripped all of Michigan's delegates - they have ZERO up. The RNC penalty was half of the otherwise allocated delegates. So while the GOP contenders have less to fight for than they would have, there are still 30 delegates to be won in the state.
Also, the RNC never forebade the candidates from campaigning in Michigan or even suggested a boycott of the state. It stopped at the delegate penalty outlined in the rules and so the candidates continued to seek to win the delegates that remained.
The withdrawal from the ballot by most of the Democrat field does seem like a foolish step. If I understand correctly, that took an active step by the field - they would have been on the ballot had they not gone in to ask to be removed - which was dumb (you never know if the DNC might change its mind and reinstate the delegates, etc.). But maybe Democrats in Michigan will go for the "uncommitted" proxy and it will get interesting. Even if they do - Clinton can still claim victory because "uncommitted" will be an amalgam of an actual rival (Obama) and an also-ran (Edwards), and nobody (save possibly the exit pollers) will know how many of those "uncommitted" voters were actually Obama people, and how many were Edwards people, and whether either of them alone would have beaten HRC.