In Michigan, Dems Stiff Dems

Prominent Michigan Democrats are scrambling to try to persuade Democratic presidential candidates to reverse their decision to remove themselves from Michigan's presidential primary ballot.

Earlier today, candidates John Edwards, Barack Obama, Bill Richardson and Joe Biden informed the party that they would not participate in its Jan. 15 primary because it violates the Democratic National Committee's calendar rules.

As it stands, a Jan. 15 Michigan Democratic Primary would be little more than a beauty contest, but with a caveat: The Republicans, on that same day, will hold a real contest with real delegates at stake, and it will be a challenge for the media to completely ignore the Democratic contest.

The Democrats were acting in advance of a 4pm ET ballot deadline today. For weeks, Michigan Democrats have kept their heads down, hoping that a lack of overt pressure on the candidates would cause the deadline to float by without incident.

There's been no comment from Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign. She'd be the prohibitive favorite to win the state's primary.

Comments

Good for Howard Dean, John Edwards, Barack Obama, Bill Richardson and Joe Biden.

As always, Senator Clinton is late or absent.

Perhaps she's waiting to see if Joe Lieberman and Jon Kyl have an opinion on whether or not she should screw the Democratic Party once again.

Posted by Petey | October 9, 2007 2:33 PM

As a frontrunner, Hillary have has been given a gift. She is able to speak her mind to the whole world's ears. Yet, as always, Clintons keep their mouths shut and play it safe. If any of us had one chance to speak our minds like the Clinton's do, wouldn't you just tell everyone what you think? Or is everyone on this planet care more about their own success than America's?

Once again we have no word from Clinton on this very important voter issue. She either isn't smart enough to give a well thought out idea, or she doesn't care enough about her responsibility as a public official to say what she thinks.

Posted by Josh McDonald | October 9, 2007 5:14 PM

"have has" should just be "has", sorry, my mistake, no editors over here.

Posted by Josh McDonald | October 9, 2007 5:15 PM

After everything is said and done in this election, a few insightful folks may soon recognize the Iraq War as the most serious thing threatening the future of the USA. I hope your readers have read New Mexico Governor Bill
Richardson's op/ed piece from the Washington Post on how and why we must get out of Iraq, from about 30 days ago. If not, here it is, in full, after an introductory remark by me:

There is a much larger scale confrontation with Bush from the candidates regarding the Iraq War and the problems it is continuing to cause, after six years of Halliburton, Blackwater, and Brown and Root and corporate-mannipulated kleptocracy. Only one candidate, it is abundantly clear to me, is really slamming the truth and providing the logistics and rationale for ending this
disastrous war: Bill Richardson. This article was printed in the Washington
Post; please take the time to read it:

_______________________

Why We Should Exit Iraq Now

By Bill Richardson
Saturday, September 8, 2007; A15

Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards have suggested that there is
little difference among us on Iraq. This is not true: I am the only leading Democratic candidate committed to getting all our troops out and doing so quickly.

In the most recent debate, I asked the other candidates how many troops they would leave in Iraq and for what purposes. I got no answers. The American people need answers. If we elect a president who thinks that troops should stay in Iraq for years, they will stay for years — a tragic mistake.

Clinton, Obama and Edwards reflect the inside-the-Beltway thinking that a complete withdrawal of all American forces somehow would be “irresponsible.” On the contrary, the facts suggest that a rapid, complete withdrawal — not a
drawn-out, Vietnam-like process —would be the most responsible and effective course of action.

Those who think we need to keep troops in Iraq misunderstand the Middle East. I have met and negotiated successfully with many regional leaders,including Saddam Hussein. I am convinced that only a complete withdrawal can sufficiently shift the politics of Iraq and its neighbors to break the deadlock that has been killing so many people for so long.

Our troops have done everything they were asked to do with courage & professionalism, but they cannot win someone else’s civil war. So long as
American troops are in Iraq, reconciliation among Iraqi factions is postponed. Leaving forces there enables the Iraqis to delay taking the steps
to end the violence. And it prevents us from using diplomacy to bring in other nations to help stabilize and rebuild the country.

The presence of American forces in Iraq weakens us in the war against al-Qaeda. It endows the anti-American propaganda of those who portray us as occupiers plundering Iraq’s oil and repressing Muslims. The day we leave, this myth collapses, and the Iraqis will drive foreign jihadists out of their country. Our departure would also enable us to focus on defeating the terrorists who attacked us on Sept. 11, those headquartered along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border — not in Iraq.

Logistically, it would be possible to withdraw in six to eight months. We moved as many as 240,000 troops into and out of Iraq through Kuwait in as
little as a three-month period during major troop rotations. After the Persian Gulf War, we redeployed nearly a half-million troops in a few
months. We could redeploy even faster if we negotiated with the Turks to open a route out through Turkey.

As our withdrawal begins, we will gain diplomatic leverage. Iraqis will start seeing us as brokers, not occupiers. Iraq’s neighbors will face the
reality that if they don’t help with stabilization, they will face the consequences of Iraq’s collapse — including even greater refugee flows over their borders and possible war.

The United States can facilitate Iraqi reconciliation and regional cooperation by holding a conference similar to that which brought peace to Bosnia. We will need regional security negotiations among all of Iraq’s
neighbors and discussions of donations from wealthy nations — including oil-rich Muslim countries — to help rebuild Iraq. None of this can happen until we remove the biggest obstacle to
diplomacy: the presence of U.S. forces in Iraq.

My plan is realistic because:

It is less risky. Leaving forces behind leaves them vulnerable. Would we need another surge to protect them?

It gets our troops out of the quagmire and strengthens us for our real challenges. It is foolish to think that 20,000 to 75,000 troops could bring peace to Iraq when 160,000 have not. We need to get our troops out of the crossfire in Iraq so that we can defeat the terrorists who attacked us on Sept. 11.

By hastening the peace process, the likelihood of prolonged bloodshed is reduced. President Richard Nixon withdrew U.S. forces slowly from Vietnam —
with disastrous consequences. Over the seven years it took to get our troops out, 21,000 more Americans and perhaps a million Vietnamese, most of them civilians, died. All this death and destruction accomplished nothing — the communists took over as soon as we left.

My position has been clear since I entered this race: Remove all the troops and launch energetic diplomatic efforts in Iraq and internationally to bring stability. If Congress fails to end this war, I will remove all troops without delay, and without hesitation, beginning on my first day in office.

Let’s stop pretending that all Democratic plans are similar. The American people deserve precise answers from anyone who would be commander in chief. How many troops would you leave in Iraq? For how long? To do what, exactly? And the media should be asking these questions of the candidates, rather than allowing them to continue saying, “We are against the war . . . but please don’t read the small print.”

The writer is governor of New Mexico and a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Posted by Stephen Fox | October 10, 2007 10:41 AM

Biden has the most reasonable plan. We cannot just cut and run, as Richardson is proposing. Biden's plan is already happening-defacto. Each day that goes by though, before this plan is fully enacted means more lives lost. 75 senators voted for a nonbinding resolution on this. I guess they know something. he is the one and only canidate I have seen that can get both sides to work together. Nothing will get done unless we have a president that can get republicans and democratis to agree to their plan where Iraq, heathcare, education or any other issue.

As far as the primaries, I can understand the canidates position, as it is probably costly to try and campaign in so many states so quickly, thereby leaving tv advertising as one of the only ways to reach voters and the one canidate with the most money having the most advantage-Not a level playing field at all.
However, as a voter from one of these states, every election cycle most of the canidates have already dropped out before I get to vote. It seems like Iowa gets to decide who the nominee is. So I think we should make some kind of change to the system-what change that should be is the issue.

Posted by JF | October 10, 2007 1:23 PM