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By RightMichigan.com Posted in Barack | Breaking News | Democrats | Hillary Clinton | Mark Schauer | MI:13 | Michigan — Comments (1) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Cross-posted on Right Michigan at www.RightMichigan.com.

We're all involved in politics because we care.  We care about issues, we care about debates... we care about people.  And most readers of this particular site are involved because that love for people leads them to a certain philosophy that's almost universally at odds with the personalities and philosophy of the American left.  So we jump into the fight.  We argue, we debate and we wage a war of ideas to try to hold that liberal philosophy at bay.

That can be a tough job here in Michigan.  We're a state that's grown bluer and bluer in recent years.  And lets be honest... historically the Democrats have been better organized than we are in Michigan.  They've got the unions and enough xenophobia, scare tactics and class, race and gender warfare cards up their sleeves to keep certain voting blocks firmly in their camp.  So it's always nice when we get a little bit of help battling the left.  Especially when that help comes from... the left?

Something must be in the non-diverted water these days because Michigan Democrats are at each other's throats this week.  Yesterday we heard the first shot fired when 7th Congressional District Dem candidate Sharon Renier officially challenged a few hundred of Dem front-runner Mark Schauer's petition signatures.  Not enough to get him kicked off the ballot but enough to send a signal.  She's in this race, she doesn't like the glass ceiling the 7th District Dems built into the race to keep women down and she's going to fight tooth and nail to smash it.

And this morning the good news just keeps coming.  The Associated Press reports that the 13th Congressional District Democrat primary might just see a seated incumbent Congresswoman bumped out of Washington DC because she screwed up her petitions.

Former state Rep. Mary Waters has challenged the petition signatures collected by U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, who is seeking re-election in the 13th Congressional District.

Waters filed the formal challenge Tuesday with the Wayne County Clerk's office. She also is contesting the signatures of state Sen. Martha Scott, another congressional candidate in the August primary.

State law requires 1,000 valid signatures to place a candidate's name on the ballot.

Kilpatrick, a six-term Democrat, filed 1,300 signatures.

Scott filed 1,500.  No official word on how many signatures Waters is hoping to disqualify but she'd only need 301 to boot Kilpatrick.  That's a few more than the five that kept Livingston County Democratic Party Chairman Matt Evans from running for Supervisor this fall but it's certainly possible.  

Now, this isn't exactly a pick-up opportunity for the GOP, although Ed Gubics, the Republican candidate, filed more petition signatures (2,000) than any of the three potential Dem candidates.  But I won't lie, the idea of a Democrat named Kilpatrick from Detroit losing her seat in Congress because of petition fraud brings a smile to my face and a warm feeling in my heart.  Which is not to be confused with the warm shivers that the Barackstar sends up Chris Matthews inner thigh.  

All in all it's not been a good week for Dem unity or the Kilpatricks.  The Congresswoman's son, Kwame, has his own problems as fellow Democrat Jennifer Granholm took just about everyone by surprise last night when she responded immediately to the Detroit City Council's requests that she boot the man from office by requesting the names of preferred legal counsel for each side of the debate.

It's a small step on it's face but potentially a massive move when one considers all of the pitfalls inherent in a Lansing v. Detroit, Dem v. Dem racially enflamed matchup.  Or is it?  The Ivory Tower seems as surprised as everyone else that the Governor took any action at all, let alone this quickly but they did find one potential dissenter:

Larry Dubin, a law professor at the University of Detroit Mercy, said the governor's quick reaction should be taken more as an indication of the process she will follow in making a decision than what her final decision will be -- or how quickly she will rule.

And, he said, the governor's requests are not necessarily bad news for the mayor's side.

"My general sense is that the governor would prefer to have the matter handled locally by council rather than it being a decision to be undertaken by the chief executive of the state, but perhaps the governor is keeping an open mind, recognizing that if there is irreparable harm to the city by her inaction that she may feel compelled to proceed more quickly," he said.

Dubin's argument begs the question... what's worse for Democrats, a Dem governor removing a Dem mayor with a fiercely loyal constituency from a 95% Dem city or a Dem governor refusing to remove one of the most corrupt public officials in the history of corruption?

We could argue the philosophy and the politics of centralized power and the removal of local officials from a state capitol all day long and those are probably important discussions to have.  But right now?  I'm anxious to grab some popcorn and watch.  

Especially when the biggest civil war in the Democrat party proves so much less entertaining than it is tragic.

As much as I love to see lefties at each other's throats, and boy is it going around these days, the fight they're having over the seating of Michigan's convention delegates looks like it could very well lead to voter disenfranchisement on a scale we haven't seen since women and minorities took hold of the right to vote.

The Detroit News this morning reports that the Democratic National Committee is likely to "snub" 2.3 million voters in Michigan and Florida by refusing to seat our delegates to the national convention in Denver.

"All of these people voted last August to sanction Michigan and Florida," said Martha Fuller Clark, a committee member and a state lawmaker from New Hampshire. "It's hard for me to imagine the people on the Rules & Bylaws Committee would abandon that."

No, Martha, what's hard to imagine is that the "party of the little guy" would look 2.3 million voters in the face and tell them their voices don't count.  Because some party big wigs in Washington cut a deal in a smoke filled back room last year and imposed a largely arbitrary "calendar" on the states?  Seriously?  Party insiders are going to tell Michigan that we don't count?  

That's asinine.  It's insane.  But next to no one understands that.

You've got Barack Obama actively blocking re-votes and other delegate apportionment plans.

You've got Howard Dean at the DNC telling us `tough rocks.'

You've got the Governor of the State of Michigan 100% silent on the issue.

Heck, you've even got a Michigan regressisphere that's completely lost it's voice on the issue.  They're more interested in fighting over which of them gets a blogger credential so that one individual's voice can be heard than about raising holy heck to make sure the voices of millions of voters have representation on the convention floor.

For the love of all that's good and holy, we've been arguing consistently every week for months here on Right Michigan for a full seating of Michigan's Democrat delegation.  The issue rarely gets a mention anywhere in Michigan's lefty sphere.  

The one person who seems to have our collective back?  Hillary Clinton.  (/shudder)

Wednesday, Clinton told the AP that she would consider a convention battle, despite the hopes of party leaders who want the issue resolved well before then.

"I will consult with Floridians and the voters in Michigan because it's really their voices that are being ignored and their votes that are being discounted, and I'll support whatever the elected officials and the voters in those two states want to do," she said.

I don't know about the Democrat establishment or their blogging echo chamber, Senator, but the voters in Michigan?  They'd like to have a voice when it comes to selecting the next leader of the free world.  Thanks for your help.