Granholm open to Michigan caucus

It's weird (4.00 / 3)

I honestly don't care who wins between these two. I've tried to pick a favorite and can't. There are things I like about both, there are things I dislike about both. And I don't feel like arguing about them.

I would love to see them both on the ticket. What a great ticket that would be.

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by: wizardkitten @ Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 14:21:40 PM CST

Wow (4.00 / 1)

I'm giving you a 4 just for a refreshingly different answer!

"Can't think of a witty comment right now."

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by: yvette248 @ Thu Mar 06, 2008 at 07:18:55 AM CST

[ Parent ]

And this just released (0.00 / 0)

A joint statement from Gov. Crist of Florida and Granholm-

"The right to vote is at the very foundation of our democracy.  This primary season, voters have turned out in record numbers to exercise that right, and it is reprehensible that anyone would seek to silence the voices of 5,163,271 Americans.  It is intolerable that the national political parties have denied the citizens of Michigan and Florida their votes and voices at their respective national conventions.

"According to the DNC and RNC, Michigan and Florida have violated party rules by moving up their primaries.  Today, we each will call upon our respective state and national party chairs to resolve this matter and to ensure that the voters of Michigan and Florida are full participants in the formal selection of their parties' nominees.  We must restore the rights of the more than 5 million voters whose voices have been silenced."

OK then. Whatever "restore the rights" means to you.

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by: wizardkitten @ Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 15:03:56 PM CST

Conference call with Mark Brewer last night (4.00 / 1)

I was told that in a conference call last night Mark Brewer said there was little to no chance of a caucus because neither the Clinton or the Obama camps wanted one. But that was last night. Today Granholm is telling him to get it done. Poor Mark.

The direct use of force is such a poor solution to any problem, it is generally employed only by small children and large nations.

 - David Friedman

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by: michmark @ Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 15:48:28 PM CST

They ALL screwed it up (4.00 / 1)

ALL of them can get together and fix it.  

Poor US is more like it.

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by: wizardkitten @ Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 15:58:26 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Hmmmm, lemme see.... (0.00 / 0)

Hillary usually wins primaries and Obama usually wins caucuses. Sounds like this is going to be a difficult decision make.

A caucus, which makes the most fiscal sense, would not favor Hillary - so getting her to agree to a do-over that does not favor her in a state she's already won is probably not going to happen.

Obama has repeatedly stated that he doesn't care about Michigan whatsoever, so I really can't see him showing any leadership on this issue either.

"Can't think of a witty comment right now."

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by: yvette248 @ Thu Mar 06, 2008 at 07:22:35 AM CST

[ Parent ]

unfortunately (4.00 / 1)

this only reinforces the idea that no matter what a state does, no matter what party rule it breaks, their delegates will get seated.

Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man's original virtue. It is through disobedience and rebellion that progress has been made. --- Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man Under Socialism

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by: Cordelia Lear @ Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 15:50:14 PM CST

No accountability for their actions (4.00 / 1)

Who does that remind me of?  Quite honestly, I'm sick of this whole primary process and the actual election hasn't even begun.  

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by: Kathy @ Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 17:47:29 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Not if we re-do (0.00 / 0)

To do so would be to comply with the rules.

Pushing forward actually undermines the rules.

Allowing Michigan and Florida to seat their delegates from the elections that were held would to give a free pass to Iowa and NH to do the same when we have a real fix in four year's time.

Unintended consequences.

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by: Nazgul35 @ Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 20:04:55 PM CST

[ Parent ]

I didn't suggest (0.00 / 0)

that MI and FL should be seated based on the worthless primaries. I've consistently argued that they shouldn't be credentialed.

Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man's original virtue. It is through disobedience and rebellion that progress has been made. --- Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man Under Socialism

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by: Cordelia Lear @ Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 20:31:02 PM CST

[ Parent ]

GAME ON! (4.00 / 1)

According to Phil at West Michigan Rising Michigan Public Radio has announced an agreement has been reached. Here is Phil's post:   http://www.westmichiganrising....

The direct use of force is such a poor solution to any problem, it is generally employed only by small children and large nations.

 - David Friedman

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by: michmark @ Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 17:31:14 PM CST

Report of Do-Over Caucus Agreement (4.00 / 2)

What I heard was on MPR at 6:05 during their news.  Roughly:

"And once again Michigan Democrats have reached an agreement to hold a new "do-over" caucus.  No details yet, but it will be on a Saturday.  We'll have more during Morning Edition tomorrow."

memiller confirms on MichLib that he heard this statment and is reading it the same way I am.  Nothing at Google News, though obviously it's been much talked about today.

West Michigan Rising -- The Port From Which We Build Our Left Coast

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by: philgoblue @ Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 18:15:35 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Wow (0.00 / 0)

Just wow.

Good for us.

You would think one of the majors would have that. I'm "refreshing" away on all of them...

Nice work guys!

 

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by: wizardkitten @ Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 18:24:58 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Nope (4.00 / 3)

This is up on their site-

MICHIGAN RADIO INCORRECTLY REPORTED WEDNESDAY EVENING THAT A DEAL HAD BEEN REACHED TO HOLD A NEW DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATING CONTEST.

NO DEAL IS IN PLACE, THOUGH STATE & NATIONAL PARTY LEADERS, AS WELL AS THE CLINTON AND OBAMA CAMPAIGNS CONTINUE TO DISCUSS THEIR OPTIONS.

WE SINCERELY REGRET THE ERROR.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled speculation. That is all.

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by: wizardkitten @ Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 18:29:12 PM CST

[ Parent ]

And this on m/live (4.00 / 1)

http://www.mlive.com/elections...

The direct use of force is such a poor solution to any problem, it is generally employed only by small children and large nations.

 - David Friedman

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by: michmark @ Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 18:39:35 PM CST

[ Parent ]

LOL (4.00 / 2)

Methinks someone leaked something they really shouldn't have... yet.

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by: wizardkitten @ Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 18:46:05 PM CST

[ Parent ]

phew! (4.00 / 1)

At least my initial post was correct, "MPR is reporting...."  I was getting a little nervous.

Still... this wasn't a slip, this was an on-air reporter reading a note that wasn't ready to go out over the air.  Things are afoot and we probably be hearing something in the next hours.

West Michigan Rising -- The Port From Which We Build Our Left Coast

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by: philgoblue @ Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 18:58:14 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Firehouse contest (4.00 / 2)

Yahoo is reporting a firehouse contest:

Michigan Democrats are discussing holding a "firehouse" contest in May or June that would be an alternative to a traditional primary or caucus and run by the state party, said a Democratic Party official who has been part of the discussions. "Firehouse" contests usually have fewer polling places and shorter voting hours than traditional state-run primary elections.

The party official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions are private, said there was general consensus that it could not be held at taxpayers' expense and would attempt to generate participation from about 1 million state Democrats.

My question is, why would the MDP waste their money if the delegate count still favors Obama?  (Slate claims even with a do-over in MI and FL that Obama would be ahead in the count.) Wouldn't it be better to use all that money on races here in MI?

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by: Kathy @ Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 18:34:15 PM CST

[ Parent ]

I think this would help races in Michigan (4.00 / 2)

Creates more interest in the party as a whole, people open the wallets to support other candidates, get more involved with the party, etc, not to mention the media money and attention (can you imagine?) this would bring.

If the field reports we are hearing are right - local party people are bummed right now. This would really fire them up, get those "boots on the ground" and get them out there raising donations...

I think it's a winner financially in the long run. Would the MDP have to pay some up front? Probably, but they can make it up with the excitement this would create.

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by: wizardkitten @ Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 18:43:32 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Who did Slate (4.00 / 1)

assume could participate?

I fear that there is a lot of wiggle room on establishing who can participate. Only people with party memberships as of xx/xx/08? Only precinct delegates? Only people who did not participate in the Jan. primary with a republican ballot?

In some past caucuses anyone who said they were a democrat and intended to vote for the democrat in the general election could participate. But, the stakes weren't so high for any one (or two) candidates then.

It's possible we could end up with another FUBAR because of long and elaborate rules about participation. Something as seemingly innocent as needing a party membership on 1/15/08 could easily disenfranchise an awful lot of Obama votes from metro Detroit and Detroit.

Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man's original virtue. It is through disobedience and rebellion that progress has been made. --- Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man Under Socialism

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by: Cordelia Lear @ Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 18:43:34 PM CST

[ Parent ]

I would favor (0.00 / 0)

something like a party membership 30 days  before caucus. Sort of like registering to vote 30 days before an election.

The direct use of force is such a poor solution to any problem, it is generally employed only by small children and large nations.

 - David Friedman

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by: michmark @ Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 18:52:26 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Correction (0.00 / 0)

I'm sorry, I was basing that statement on Jonathan Alter's article in Newsweek.  He came to that conclusion after inputting various scenarios into Slate's Delegate Calculator.  He didn't define who would participate, he just labeled it a do-over.  

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by: Kathy @ Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 18:57:30 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Good article (0.00 / 0)

thanks for the link!

Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man's original virtue. It is through disobedience and rebellion that progress has been made. --- Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man Under Socialism

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by: Cordelia Lear @ Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 20:37:36 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Media and announcements (0.00 / 0)

You can't really believe that a story of this magnitude would only be reported on a local blog, can you?

While bloggers do sometimes get inside scoops, a story of this magnitude would have been breaking news all over the country at the same time.

"Can't think of a witty comment right now."

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by: yvette248 @ Thu Mar 06, 2008 at 07:26:40 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Caucus shouldn't be held until the snow lets up (4.00 / 2)

Unfortunately, that might be May. Or June.

"When you smoke and drink, that tobacco doesn't mix with alcohol and you feel lousy the next morning, so I gave up cigarettes."--former Tiger manager Mayo Smith.

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by: Snarky Anderson @ Thu Mar 06, 2008 at 01:23:52 AM CST