Here is an interesting situation. The State of Michigan has felt oppressed (for some time to hear them talk) by the political parties and how they time their primaries for picking Presidential candidates. There are other States who apparently feel similar (Florida to name one) and have tried to change their primary dates so that their States can have more of a say on choosing candidates in the primaries. In the past, so many of the contenders had dropped out by the time the Michigan Primaries rolled around.
This is a really big deal here in Michigan this year, and legislation was pushed by the Governor (a democrat), written and passed by the Legsilature (split House and Senate) and signed by the Governor. There are some terrible parts of this legislation, in my opinion, but that is another story. Effectively, this legislation will move the Michigan primaries for both parties to Jan. 19, 2008. The Governor champions this because she feels that it will bring the debates here earlier and than force the candidates address issues that are important to Michigan like manufacturing and universal health care.
So now the National Democratic Party has said that they are urging all of their Presidential Candidates to withdraw their names from the Michigan Primary ballot. All have said they would except Senator Clinton. It seems as though the Democrats will simply caucus in Michigan and pick a candidate that way. Now the Republicans are considering doing the same because of what happened in the 2000 Primary when there was a Democrat caucus, so all of the Democrat voters crossed parties and voted for Senator John McCain.
What a mess. This whole thing started so that Michigan would have more of a say in who the Presidential candidates are, and now it seems that Michigan will have no say at all. At a State level, I look at this as just another complete failure of our Governor to effectively lead us anywhere. But I think it is interesting from a National level because it seems to spotlight one of the glaring imbalances in the political system.
the whole primary system is a mess and there is little wonder the larger states, especially those that are solidly D or R, are getting upset at how candidates only come to raise funds and nothing else.
California gets the rawest deal in this regard…heck sometimes candidates have conceded the race before we’ve even finsihed voting.
**California gets the rawest deal in this regard…heck sometimes candidates have conceded the race before we’ve even finsihed voting. **
I imagine that is true. California is a big State though and I imagine that it would be hard to campaign there. It might be easier to just let the chips fall where they may.
Yeah, but isn’t MI at least a battle ground state? You might not get much play in the primaries, but at least you get both candidates showing up and talking about issues in your state prior to the general election. Indiana is a so solid for Republican presidential candidates that we rarely get to see either candidate, or even the commercials.
You fell for the smoke screen. They have also decided since people are paying for an election, lets also vote on changing the term limits. The primaries will happen in Jan in Michigan.
Yeah, but isn’t MI at least a battle ground state? You might not get much play in the primaries, but at least you get both candidates showing up and talking about issues in your state prior to the general election. Indiana is a so solid for Republican presidential candidates that we rarely get to see either candidate, or even the commercials.
We Californians just pay for those commercials you and we don’t get to see.
They have also decided since people are paying for an election, lets also vote on changing the term limits. The primaries will happen in Jan in Michigan.
Well, I guess at least they will use an election if they are going to pay for it. Term limits are a mixed bag, live by the sword, die by the sword. I see both their limitations and their benefits. Quite frankly, I don’t think MI will dispense with out term limits after such a short “experiment.”
The primaries will only happen if their are candidates AND the national parties let them happen. I think allowing State parties to pick their candidates is a superior method then allowing national parties to moe their pawns to the same tired places. It just seems more democratic this way.
From a MI standpoint though, this really highlights Governor Granholm’s weakness as a leader. She may be a good speaker and she may have some good ideas (what they are I am not sure though). She has been unable to build coalitions of support with the Republicans and her own party which is one of the main reasons that nothing ever seems to get done. In the last election, she was unable to have any political coattails, and she SHOULD be the de facto head of her party in the State. Instead it seems to be a young mayor in the biggest city, who had amazingly long coattails.
Yeah, but isn’t MI at least a battle ground state?
Generally, yes. The problem is that sometimes the two main choices in the election is the “lesser of two evils.” I can see how the problems that are currently plaguing MI have carry over to the rest of the country. The issue (at least in theory) is that the candidates campaigning in Iowa and New Hampshire are not discussing and debating MI issues. The candidates who would be more apt to discuss those issues, might not do well in Iowa and NH, and therefore their candidacies might not survive through to the MI primaries. By moving the date before IA and NH, MI could force their issues to be discussed earlier and on a national level. If those candidates who support those issues show strongly in earlier primaries, than perhaps their candidacies will last longer to a point where anything can happen.
Indiana is a so solid for Republican presidential candidates that we rarely get to see either candidate, or even the commercials.
You may not realize how lucky you are on this point!;^)
All of the Democrat Presidential Candidates (even Senator Clinton) have signed a pledge to boycott MI for as long as this State continues to have their primary before New Hampshire and Iowa.
HOWEVER, earlier this week, guess who was in MI for a campaign fundraiser? Senator Clinton. Even more interesting was that they completely locked the press out so that there would be no reporting whatsoever.
It would seem that Senator Clinton is probably going to win in MI since she is the only Democrat campaigning here. The National Democratic Party seems to be prett quiet about this. I wonder why no outrage?
This is silly legislation. What does Michigan think is going to happen? Couldn’t each state just keeping moving their primaries earlier and earlier? Eventually we’ll be voting in primaries several years before the actual elections.
I agree. But it doesn’t make it less real. I have 2 points to make about this.
First, our Governor is a complete dumbass and an inept leader. She should be the de facto head of her Political party, but instead Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick of Detroit (or maybe nobody) is holding the poilitcal reins here. The idea of this legislation is to bring issues that matter to MI into the EARLY Presidential debates (I think this is a good idea) but instead the end result is probably going to be that the citizens of MI are going to have NO VOICE whatsoever because the parties (except for Senator Clinton) will boycott their primaries.
Second, why isn’t the National Democrat Party sanctioning Senator Clinton, or even challenging her, on her decision to break the political boycott of MI? If she signed the petition than she should honor that, in my opinion.
** Couldn’t each state just keeping moving their primaries earlier and earlier? Eventually we’ll be voting in primaries several years before the actual elections. **
On the other hand, it should be the state’s right to have their primary when they want to have it. If it is an important enough state, the candidates will come and campaign in it. If not…well too bad for that state I guess. It should be the responsibility of the state to have their primary at a time when it is prudent. By this standard, you wouldn’t have the primary years out from the actual election.
If Kwame is holding the reins, Michigan really is going down the tubes and in more ways than just politics. Does he still travel with his posse? I remember being baffled by the fact that a guy his size would need so many “bodyguards.”
**If Kwame is holding the reins, Michigan really is going down the tubes and in more ways than just politics. Does he still travel with his posse? I remember being baffled by the fact that a guy his size would need so many “bodyguards.” **
HA! Kwame’s “posse” is a bit smaller these days and he no longer burnishes the “bling” in the public eye. Kwame actually has grown up some. Of course, he is still mopping up the messes he made in his first term.
Governor Granholm is a Democrat. The Michigan House is controlled by the Democrats. The Republicans have a slim majority in the State Senate. The Governor has had a budget plan on the table (which consists of sales tax increase, an income tax increase, and a graduated income tax) and she can’t even get those talked about at the House level. In the elections last year, the Democrats had their State Caucus to decide the candidates for some of the minor elective posts (i.e. University Regents and positions like that) and do you know how many candidates were able to ride her coattails onto the ballot (notice I wrote ballot not victory)? NONE. It was pretty sad. That is why I threw Kwame’s name out there because a lot of his candidates made it on the ballot. Personally, I think a lot of the problem has been that Ed McNamara used to hold the Democrat’s reins pretty tightly. Granholm was really nothing but a molded Eddie Mac Cronie, who made it to the top. Now that he has died, I think the party in the state is withering. Not that the Republicans are doing that great. The last Gubenatorial Election should have been a Grand Slam for the Republicans, but apparently the best candidate they could find was Dick DeVos. I’m sure he is a nice guy and all, and clearly he is a successful business man, but he probably would have been an ineffectual Governor.
All of that said, in my mind, it just highlights the problems with this legislation to move the Michigan primaries up. With all of the state’s problems, this is the only piece of her agenda that Governor Granholm could get pushed through. As of today, she is term-limited. Interestingly, I understad that the term limits are on the table to be put on the ballot for the January primaries (which probably won’t have ANY candidates).
First, our Governor is a complete dumbass and an inept leader.
Subject: Modern Medicine
A Japanese doctor says, “Medicine in my country is so advanced that we can
take a kidney out of one man, put it in another, and have him out looking
for work in six weeks.”
A German doctor says, "That is nothing. We can take a lung out of one
person, put it in another, and have him out looking for work in four
weeks.”
A British doctor says, “In my country medicine is so advanced that we can
take half a heart out of one person, put it in another, and have both of
them out looking for work in two weeks.”
The Canadian doctor, not to be outdone, interjected, “You guys are way
behind. We took a woman with no brains, sent her to Michigan where she
became Governor, and now half the state is out looking for work.”
**So now the National Democratic Party has said that they are urging all of their Presidential Candidates to withdraw their names from the **Michigan Primary ballot. All have said they would except Senator Clinton.
HA! What a joke, even though it was expected. All of the major State Democrats have already endorsed Senator Clinton and she has already been here a number of times on “fundraising” expeditions. So now she has enlarged her coffers (at the expense of the other Democrats) basically for free. Since no one here will get to vote for any of the other candidates.
Now comes the exciting part. What will the Republicans do? The last time there was no Democrat Primary in MI (2000) the Dems all crossed over and voted for Senator McCain. I have heard that the Repubs are “hep to that jive” this time and will likely cancel their primary in MI as well.
All of this goes to further prove that our Governor is a complete idiot. Her whole intention was to give MI a larger voice in national politics, and with her short-sightedness, she has pretty much succeeded in completely eliminating any voice we had. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Thanks for sharing your find. I had heard something about this on the radio. Most of the talk though is about the Republlican Debate tonight.
All of this goes to further prove that our Governor is a complete idiot…
Bernie
Oh come on now. She took a strong stance on the budget that I respected her for… NO EXTENSION… they had 7 months to work it out 30 more days wont help. That was a qoute from her a few days before the deadline.
For those who do not know at the 11th hour the Dems past a tax increase with promises to complete the budget cuts and get the budget done in 30 days, The Governor signed the extension.
**Oh come on now. She took a strong stance on the budget that I respected her for… NO EXTENSION… they had 7 months to work it out 30 more days wont help. That was a qoute from her a few days before the deadline. **
I’ll meet you there. Her stance on denying the extension was good. BUT, she her record on bold stances that are fundamentally correct pretty much ends there. The O.T. of this post is about the Primaries. This is a classic example of what I am saying. They fall flat.
And don’t even get me started about the budget deal!!! It is so confused and jumbled right now…all they really did was hasten armaggeddon. I would have felt a whole lot better about it if the tax increases would have gone along with budget FREEZES. But what really happened (as indicated by my State Senator Valde Garcia, who actually is a pretty nice guy) is that they cut the increases to the budget. So there actually are no budget CUTS, simply smaller increases.
Meanwhile Kari Arend, the MDOT (not the IM MDOT!!!) executive assures Livingston County that the proposed rebuild on the M-59 and Grand River intersection will go on as scheduled next year. The ironic thing is this same intersection has been rebuilt 2 times in 3 years. So apparently it will be 3 in 4. What a colossal waste! What really puts the explanation point on the idiocy of the situation is that there are 3 MDOT bridges in the county that are closed indefinitely because of lack of funding. It makes me vomit a bit in my mouth.
I’m not really in favor of recalls. I would love to have a part-time Legislature with no term limits.