The DNC Strips Michigan Of Delegates

As expected, the Democratic National Committee has stripped Michigan of all its national convention delegates.

Michigan's Jan 15 primary violates DNC rules.

Now, it's likely that the committee of the whole at the convention will restore the delegates in time for the nomination itself.

But they will not be counted when delegates matter most -- as they are being accumulated in real time in January.

Earlier this year, the DNC stripped Florida of all delegates in the wake of the state party's decision to endorse a Jan. 29 primary.

The politics of all this: good for anyone who doesn't currently lead in those states. Anyone, that is, but Hillary Clinton.

Remember that the RNC also penalized Florida and Michigan (and three other states) but by half of their delegates.

So those GOP primaries still matter.

Comments

Meanwhile, bad news is accumulating for Clinton as a new poll from New Hampshire (the second in two days) shows her slipping down to single-digits... for the first time since July. It will be interesting to see whether the hostage situation has any effect on the race -- what is your take on that?

Posted by Daniel, NY | December 1, 2007 12:28 PM

They should follow the GOP's lead and only strip half of the delegates for MI and FL now that New Hampshire has officially moved up. No need to keep this draconian punishment in place for almost no reason. I want to vote, darn it...

http://www.political-buzz.com/

Posted by Matt in Florida | December 1, 2007 12:44 PM

Daniel, I'm thinking a short-lived bump from the weird hostage thing. On the plus side, Clinton did look nearly presidential talking to reporters. On the down side, its all too strange, and I think part of the Clinton campaign's problem is the fatigue over weird stuff.

Posted by Paul | December 1, 2007 1:23 PM

Why doesn't the DNC also strip IA and NH of its delegates? They're violating the rules just as much as MI is. The official DNC calendar said that IA can vote no earlier than Jan. 14th and NH can vote no earlier than Jan. 22nd. NH is skipping in line ahead of NV, against the DNC rules. It was precisely *because* NH said they'd skip ahead of NV that many of the officials in MI assumed they could get away with skipping in line themselves. Why are the rules being enforced so selectively?

Posted by Chris S. | December 1, 2007 1:54 PM

If the votes will count at the convention, dont they essentially count now?
if I told you the touchdown you just scored wouldnt be counted until the end of the game, wouldnt your opponent play and your fans watch as if you were winning by 7 more points?

Posted by shaun | December 1, 2007 4:12 PM

"If the votes will count at the convention, dont they essentially count now?
if I told you the touchdown you just scored wouldnt be counted until the end of the game, wouldnt your opponent play and your fans watch as if you were winning by 7 more points?"

In this case, the thinking is that once the game is already over, in order to smooth things over with those states, the winner will try to retroactively restore those delegates, **assuming that by doing so, it doesn't alter the outcome of the nomination contest**. So it's like, I won by 20 points, and now once the game's been decided, I'm going to allow my opponent to have an extra score so I don't beat them by as wide a margin. It doesn't actually affect the outcome, so those points don't really "count".

Posted by Chris S. | December 1, 2007 4:18 PM

Daniel, is there anywhere on the web you don't pimp your blog?

Posted by james | December 1, 2007 7:25 PM

I hope when all is said and done we'll go back to a normal primary schedule next time around. I'm a political junkie and I'm already getting sick of it. I can't imagine the public, given their mood these days, is going to put up with a long drawn out season.

Posted by wyocwby | December 1, 2007 7:41 PM

It irks me that the DNC is punishing Michigan and Florida. I'm tempted to vote Republican because of this injustice.

Posted by Woodrow S. | December 2, 2007 5:36 PM

To answer Chris S's question, NH and IA are supposed to go first. That's why they aren't penalized. There is a sort of... rule that says no one can go before February 1st except NH and IA. Both National Committees abide by that rule. And I want to vote in something that will matter darn it.

Posted by Bob B. | December 3, 2007 4:11 PM

This will unfairly hurt citizens of those two states AND also potentially hurt the democratic parties. They should have only removed half the delegates like the Republican party did.

Posted by netdragon | January 9, 2008 1:29 AM

I don't understand how the DNC can actually believe that stripping these states of their Delegates will help them win the Presidency. I am under the impression that these idiots want another Republican President, that way they aren't responsible for any of the policies from The Iraq War Era. These folks are complete lunatics!

Posted by Bobby_2010 | January 14, 2008 8:08 PM