this just in! michigan’s still irrelevant
by Elly Kranz
Published: January 24, 2008
It went unnoticed, mostly, by the Michigan public. They moved our primary to Tuesday, January 15th. It wasn’t a big deal in December, not a bit. Yet, we Michiganders noticed something with a creeping horror: none of the Republicans pulled out.
Let me update you really quickly.
Last August, Michigan was trying to decide weather to have a primary or a caucus, and when to have it. What’s the difference? A caucus is like a political circus where the party members show up to be entertained by competing political ringmasters. At the end of the night whoever has the fullest tent wins. A primary, on the other hand, is the same-old boring booth voting as in the general election. Those who supported Hillary Clinton wanted a primary. Those who supported John Edwards wanted a caucus.
Why?
Because, deep down, Edwards’ people knew that on paper, Clinton trumps their man every time; but on stage, the pretty-boy- populist just might take out the stiff-in-a-pantsuit. Clinton’s supporters won that battle, something Edwards’ supporters are use to by now. But there was also a more interesting dispute as to when to hold the primary.
Local party leaders wanted to move the contest up to catch some of the early-primary spotlight. But to do so placed their delegates to the Democratic National Convention in peril? Who was so anxious to get Michigan some camera time that he or she would risk having our state’s delegates excluded from the national convention?
The answer is Senator Carl Levin. He pushed and pushed for our Primary to move because, darn it, he wanted some attention! He was tired of Michigan, a rather good sized state, having a pint-sized impact on the nomination process. “There’s just no possible justification for one or two states that are not particularly representative to have a dominant role in this process. It’s not fair to other states,” said Levin in October.
Well, you do have a point there Carl. But you forgot one thing: The Democratic Party said “NO! Only Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina get the early primary. Sit down.”
But, like a defiant child, Michigan moved it anyway. The results were predictable and angering. In a show of support for the DNC’s official position, Edwards and Obama excluded themselves from the ballot, leaving us with Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton… just fantastic.
The Republicans didn’t have to sweat about it; they got their pick of the mangy litter. Romney won easily, shoving, “I’m the hometown boy” commercials down our throats for two weeks leading up to the primary. In the end, he spent over 2 million on the campaign. And… Clinton? It was a smart move for Hillary - another easy win. Those who felt compelled to go and vote had their choice: vote for Hillary or lie and say you’re Republican so you could throw the vote to the lesser evil.
(That is a tough choice.)
Deep down I agree with what Levin was trying to do. Michigan is a large state and we should matter, but we did it wrong, so very wrong. We angered the Democratic National Committee, the last hope for this country and were left to fight the Right Reds with two candidates tied behind our back. We dug our own grave, leapt in, laid down and crossed our arms over our chest shouting, “Put the nails in my coffin and bring on the dirt!” After which we got the only result possible: another irrelevant primary.
We managed not to make a difference… again. Good job, Michigan.
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