Michigan‘s Primary

Jan. 13, 2008

The Michigan primary on January 15, is so confusing, it might cause you to boycott the whole thing—especially if you’re a Democrat. But don’t do that. Call the national party leaders and tell them it’s time for a change (phone numbers below).
The reason for this year’s state of affairs owes to the state’s Democratic and Republican party leaders moving up Michigan’s presidential primary to January 15, in order to give Michigan more weight in choosing a candidate—not to mention having the candidates address the state’s specific and serious issues. The primary is normally held in February when the candidates have already gained huge momentum, money and vote wise.
These were laudable enough goals, but the state parties broke the rules of their national counterparts, which are now punishing them. The honchos at the Democratic National Committee decided last month to strip Michigan’s 156 delegates of their voting power at the Democratic national convention in August. The Republican National Committee stripped half of the delegates 60 votes.
That makes the primary clearly more meaningful for the Republicans.
Not only that, front-running candidates Mitt Romney and John McCain will hit Michigan to campaign. In contrast, the Democratic candidates will pretty much boycott the state out of “respect” for the Democratic National Committee’s rules, which say only Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina can hold primaries before February 5.
Dennis Kucinich is the only Democratic candidate, thus far, to announce that
he’ll make an appearance here.
And unlike the Democrats, the Republicans will have a full slate of candidates to choose from. The Democrats have only four.

WHAT’S THE DEAL?
The good news? The state delegates will probably be reinstated and your vote will count.
“There are two reasons,” explained Mark Brewer, head of the Michigan Democratic Party. “First, that’s what’s been done historically. When other
states have suffered the same punish-ment, their delegate votes were
restored. Secondly, Michigan is a critical state to the Democratic nominee, so they’re not going to start the fall campaign by angering the Michigan Democratic Party.”
Brewer maintains that all of this—the strange ballot (more on that below), the stripping of delegate votes, and the Democratic candidates’ boycott of the state—is worth the statement that Michigan is trying to make. “This was an act of civil disobedience, and
there’s always some pain that goes
with that,” he said.
In return for the voters’ pain, Brewer and other states such as Florida
(also stripped of delegate votes) want
to see Iowa and New Hampshire lose their monopoly on holding their primaries first.
What about the entire country holding a primary the same day to give all voters an equal chance?
Brewer said that approach would hurt the candidates who aren’t able to raise the $100 million or so it would take to run a national campaign. Senator John McCain is a case in point; he hadn’t raised as much money as Mitt Romney, but was able to capture New Hampshire by focusing his efforts there.
Brewer’s idea: give other states a chance to hold early primaries by setting up a rotating schedule.

MAKE YOUR VOTE COUNT
The Michigan Democratic Party website makes no mention that the DNC stripped the delegates’ power to vote. Instead, it gives guidance on how to vote for the four candidates who are missing on the ballot. The four candidates—Biden, Edwards, Obama and Richardson—asked to have their names removed because Michigan broke the party rules.
There’s another reason, political analyst Gloria Borger told CNN. The four candidates were behind in the polls and it was a way to make the election look “irrelevant.”
Clinton, on the other hand, is leading in the polls and had everything to gain by staying on the ballot, especially if the delegates are reinstated. She remains politically correct, however, by vowing not to campaign in Michigan.
Meanwhile, the voters feel completely disenfranchised.
Here’s the website’s advice:
“The Democratic ballot will have six choices: Hillary Clinton, Christopher Dodd, Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich, Uncommitted and Write-in.”
“A vote for ‘uncommitted’ is a vote to send delegates to the Democratic National Convention who are not committed or pledged to any candidate.”
“Those delegates can vote for any candidate they choose at the Convention. Supporters of Joe Biden, John Edwards, Barack Obama and Bill Richardson are urged to vote ‘uncommitted’ instead of writing in their candidates’ names because write-in votes for those candidates will not be counted under state law.”
Another tidbit for the primary: When you arrive to vote, you’ll be asked to fill out a form indicating whether you want a Republican or Democratic ballot. If you have a privacy issue with that, be forewarned.
Who’s picking up the tab for the $10 million contest? State taxpayers. The same people who paid for the time of the state Supreme Court justices who had to weigh in on this mess this past fall.
There’s gotta be a better way. If you’re not happy with the way presidential candidates are selected, here are the phone numbers to call: Democratic National Committee:
202-863-8000, Republican National Committee: 202-863-8500.

A note when you vote:
If you want to support Joe Biden, John Edwards, Barack Obama, or Bill Richardson on voting day, you might be surprised to find their names missing on the ballot. Don’t write in their names because write-in votes will not be counted under state law. Vote “uncommitted” instead. An overwhelming uncommitted vote will likely be seen as a Clinton defeat.