Primaries
Democratic Party Strips Mich. of Delegates
Democratic National Committee members voted Saturday to strip Michigan of its delegates to next year's national convention, the second state to be punished so severely for holding a primary election earlier than the national party allows.
Leaders of both major political parties have tried to enforce a calendar in which only a few states are allowed to hold their voting early. But several states, including Michigan and Florida, have bucked those rules, hoping to gain more influence over the nominating process by voting when the race is still wide open.
In August, the Democratic National Committee responded by stripping Florida of its convention delegates after scheduling its primary for Jan. 29. Yesterday in Vienna, Va., the DNC's rules and bylaws committee issued the same penalty to Michigan for its Jan. 15 primary date.
Its action means none of Michigan's 156 delegates will be allowed to participate when the Democratic party meets in Denver next summer to pick a presidential nominee.
All of the Democratic presidential candidates have already promised the national party that they will not campaign in either Michigan or Florida, even though both states are particularly valuable prizes in the general election.
Party leaders in both states remain defiant, saying that they will hold the primaries on their chosen dates and predicting that the media will treat the outcomes as significant even if there are no delegates at stake.
And some party leaders say the delegates from Michigan and Florida could still end up attending the convention in the end. The rules of the convention allow the party's nominee to petition for reinstatement of the delegates, but whether the eventual nominee would want to wage a fight on behalf of Michigan and Florida against states that played by the rules, such as California and New York, is unclear.
-- Michael D. Shear
Posted at 5:24 PM ET on Dec 1, 2007
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Posted by: nrglaw | December 2, 2007 2:07 PM
Stupidity at it's height has just been demonstrated. Candidates that have declared they will not campaign in Michigan and Florida have just told us that they are willing to ignore us for the sake of their party affiliation.
I see no reason to ever trust or vote for them in the general election. Their actions prove to me that they will ignore the American people when doing what's good for the people is contrary to what their party wants.
I vote for those who do what is right, who stand up and fight for what is good for all Americans no matter how great the opposition. The democrat candidates have proven they are not the kind of person I want leading myself and my nation.
Posted by: nocroman | December 2, 2007 11:55 AM
The comments to this entry are closed.
My family and I live in Ann Arbor, and I'm surprised at the foolishness of the Michigan Democratice Party. Stripping of delegates is something the DNC has said was a possible outcome since before it did so in Florida.
Why should any MI Democrat contribute to the MDP this year rather than directly to the DNC or even to another state's party?
There is still time to change their minds. I think that would be a good idea.