« In Michigan, Dems Stiff Dems | Main | Dodd's Also Staying On The Michigan Ballot » Clinton Won't Pull Out Of Michigan09 Oct 2007 02:33 pm Sen. Hillary Clinton's name is staying on the Michigan Democratic primary ballot. A campaign aide said this afternoon that Clinton will not follow four of her rivals by dropping out of the Michigan contest. "We will honor the pledge and not campaign or spend money in any state that is not in compliance with the DNC calendar, but it is not necessary to take the steps necessary to remove Senator Clinton's name from the ballot," said Howard Wolfson, Clinton's communications director. Comments (9)
Is this the political equivalent of, "I will not have campaign relations with that state?" Man, this is getting painful. Where's Pat Paulsen when you need him? Fear and loathing on the campaign trail, fear and loathing. 
I think this is a desperation move from Senator Clinton's flagging campaign. She knows she can't win in Iowa or New Hampshire once Democrats start paying attention, so she's looking to win a state where she'll be the only candidate on the ballot.
I completely disagree that this is a good thing. Sure, Iowa and New Hampshire aren't representative. The benefit to the current process is that there are two early contests, one a primary and one a caucus, which are separated enough from all the other events that candidates have to spend an overload of time there, allowing the people in those states to learn about the candidates in depth. If you allow other states to encroach on that, then the candidate with the best TV presence has the edge. The nomination process needs more focus on getting to know candidates well, not even more of an emphasis on name recognition and strong funding for ads. If you want to rotate who goes first, that's fine. But to allow other states to try to crowd to the front of the line is far worse than the current process.
Her rivals dropped out of the contest becuase it was a convienet way for them not to loose another contest to Senator Clinton while at the same time appearing to 'play by the rules.' Sen Clinton leads in the polls in every state that isn't heavily campaigned in. It's simply a matter of name ID. Fighting that would be expensive and very difficult. None of the campaigns wanted any of that fight, so they backed out at the first opportunity. Of course she's staying in. She's the clear favorite. However, the contest is now meaningless if I read that post correctly to say that Edwards, Obama, and the rest won't even appear on the ballot. Hillary in or out, it's now not even a 'beauty contest' as Marc likes to call it. But it has NOTHING to do with any sort of moral stance on anything, especially the integrity and spirit of the DNC's rules and bylaws.
If they both capitulate before the primaries actually start, how will she know who to pick for vice president? Her nomination seems inevitable, any hope that the electorate "wakes up" seems to contradict the history of mainstream American political power in the last few decades. ps: Trackback attempt returns errors!
And she was the last to announced. I guess her internal polling is telling her that she doesn't have this thing locked up and needs to pick up a state where there are no other canididates. What a sleazy move. I understand what Florida and Michigan people are feeling. But they should of figure this out last year and not just spring this up during the middle of a campaign season. These states had a chance to voice their concerns but they voted for the caldander and the rules for violation. If you read the newsweek article how Bill forced people to endorsed HRC and they are taking the heat from people in their state and that it's HRC operatives in florida and michegan that went the legislative route to make these changes. By compressing the calander so closely, canididates with little money can't compete. They can't be all over the US and don't have the money to run alot of ads. Most second tier canididates spend their ad money for the super tuesday states. And Americans need to have a process where the average person can go and see a canididate up close and give them the once over. This juggling for position only serves Clinton, because she isn't a good canididate nor a good public speaker as evident with the fiasco in Iowa last Sunday. And even the pundits are giving her a pass, saying at least she doesn't stink up a campaign speech. Like they low bar her debate performances. HRC doesn't win the debate but because she doesn't make a gaffee or become shillary she wins the debate. Never in the world have I heard that some one who can't answer questions wins a debate. If you think we have it bad under Bush wait for Queen Hillary.
I believe that the DNC will simply disregard MI's delegates during the National Convention. They won't be counted.
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Good for her. There is no reason to continue to allow Iowa and New Hampshire to dominate the nomination process. After all, so few voters actually caucus in Iowa. Visiting Michigan, Florida and other early primary states is good for voters and candidates. It is time to broaden the process.
Posted by rts | October 9, 2007 3:23 PM