Tag: Michigan '08 (page 4)

The Democratic state party chair in Michigan says the Barack Obama campaign has rejected the idea of a "firehouse primary." The proposal would have included:

Polls would be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and any eligible voter who hadn't voted in the state's Jan. 15 Republican primary could participate. The voter must be a citizen who turns 18 by the November election and declares himself or herself a Democrat for the day.

On Obama's rejection:

Obama's campaign doesn't like the idea, said Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer. "That's what I've been told by his campaign, but it's not my place to inquire about motivations," said Brewer, who said he thinks a do-over primary has serious financial and logistical problems.

Update [2008-3-8 11:48:12 by Big Tent Democrat]: Just as significant is the fact that Carville announces that Clinton camp will raise 15MM for new primaries and challenges Obama camp to do same:

Update: Little progress has been made:

"Although there have been a lot of conversations about how to assure that our delegation is seated, the logistics and cost of any firehouse primary may simply be insurmountable," said Liz Boyd, Granholm's press secretary.

...Granholm's comment instantly deflated hopes in Michigan of finding a solution, barely a day after expressions of optimism. "That took the oxygen out of the room," said one Democrat in the middle of the discussions, who talked about the deliberations on the condition of anonymity. "I'm regrouping."

Update: A Michigan state legislator was just on CNN. He said there are no concrete plans for a do-over be it a primary or a caucus. While there have been discussions, nothing has been decided. He is an Obama supporter. He's telling everyone to slow down, a do-over decision (or whether it would be a primary or caucus) is not certain. He also acknowledged that he supported the early primary and the reason for it was to be more relevant. He said they made their bed, they will lie in it.

Contrast this to Florida where the primary was moved up because the Republican dominated legislature forced the early date on them.

Big Tent Democrat has another update below the fold.

***

Just in from the New York Times:

[Update, 6:30 p.m. The D.N.C. also wants it to be known that Mr. Dean doesn’t necessarily oppose the “re-seating” of these delegates. Mr. Dean offers up the options of a do-over or an appeal to the credentials committee.]

[More...]

Update: Fox and MSNBC calls Michigan for Romney and Clinton.

You can follow the live results here. (Update: That site crashed, you can get them here now.)

7 in 10 appeared to vote Republican.

It looks like Mitt Romney will win the Republican vote. Turnout was low, maybe 20%.

Update [2008-1-15 20:24:9 by Big Tent Democrat]: Another result to watch is how Hillary does against "uncommitted" where Obama and Edwards sending their supporters.

Update (TL): Fox News just said exit polls show the race is too close to call between Hillary and the uncommitted. I'm not surprised, it's a protest vote by supporters of Obama and Edwards who withdrew from being on the ballot.

Update (TL): Now they say Hillary is winning 2:1 over uncommitteds and Romney's lead is slight.

Are voters sitting out the Michigan primary? The Detroit Free Press reports little or no wait time at an assortment of metro voting places.

Or, is it just that Detroit is a heavily Demcoratic city and with Edwards and Obama off the ballot due to the DNC stripping the state of delegate votes because they moved their primary up, they aren't bothering to vote?

I think the number of uncommitted votes will be large, in an effort to keep Obama and Edwards in play at the national convention in Denver, should things change and the party decide to seat the states' delegates.

Do we care what happens in the Republican race in Michigan? I've attached a poll below.