Obama Joins Four Other Democratic Hopefuls in Withdrawing from Michigan Primary Ballot
Date: Tuesday, October 09, 2007
By: Associated Press and BlackAmericaWeb.com
LANSING, Mich. (AP) Five Democratic candidates have withdrawn from Michigan's Jan. 15 presidential primary, leaving what amounts to a beauty contest for front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton and a handful of lesser-knowns.
Barack Obama, John Edwards, Bill Richardson filed paperwork Tuesday, the deadline to withdraw from the ballot, said Kelly Chesney, spokeswoman for the Michigan Secretary of State's office. Two other candidates, Joe Biden and Dennis Kucinich, said in statements that they also were bypassing the primary.
Although Michigan is a critical Midwest state in presidential voting, it violated Democratic National Committee rules in moving its primary earlier in the process. The candidates are honoring the DNC's wishes in skipping the contest.
Clinton broke with the leading candidates, with her campaign issuing a statement saying the New York senator will remain on the ballot. Chris Dodd also plans to stay on the ballot.
"We're honoring the pledge and we won't campaign or spend money in states that aren't in compliance with the DNC calendar," said Clinton spokesman Jay Carson. "We don't think it's necessary to remove ourselves from the ballot."
All the Democratic candidates already have agreed not to campaign in Michigan because it broke Democratic National Committee rules when it moved its primary ahead of Feb. 5. Party rules say states cannot hold their 2008 primary contests before Feb. 5, except for Iowa on Jan. 14, Nevada on Jan. 19, New Hampshire on Jan. 22 and South Carolina on Jan. 29.
The calendar was designed to preserve the traditional role that Iowa and New Hampshire have played in selecting the nominee, while adding two states with more racial and geographic diversity to influential early slots.
"This is an extension of the pledge we made, based on the rules that the DNC laid out," said Obama spokesman Bill Burton. "We still hope that Michigan Democrats can adopt a process that meets DNC rules and, if so, look forward to fighting for the votes of men and women across the state."
Peter C. Groff, a Colorado state senator, publisher of Blackpolicy.org and executive director of the Center for African American Policy at the University of Denver, called the primary process "dysfunctional."
"This just shows how truly dysfunctional the nomination process is when you have primaries voided in two major battleground states," Groff told BlackAmericaWeb.com Tuesday. "It underscores the need for radical change in the way candidates are nominated."
"Obama was right to pull out of the Michigan primary," Groff said. "You can't reward rogue behavior by participating in states that refuse to follow the rules simply because they believe they are a key political player in the polls. These states know the calendar. They just can't one-up or shove themselves in front of the line and not expect any consequences."
Meanwhile, the Edwards campaign said the candidate is strongly committed to Iowa.
"Changing the schedule to favor larger states where TV commercials matter more than face to face contact with voters might be good for the front-runner, but it isn't good for our democracy," the campaign said. "John Edwards is taking this step to protect the Iowa caucuses and make sure that this is a contest of ideas, not an auction."
Hari Sevugan, a spokesman for Chris Dodd, said the Connecticut senator would remain on the Michigan ballot.
"It does not benefit any of us if we are the nominee to pull our name off the ballot and slight Michigan voters," Sevugan said.
Clinton advisers acknowledged party leaders in Iowa and New Hampshire might be irked by her refusal to pull out of Michigan. But removing her name from the ballot would be a needless insult to the state's voters - one that could prove damaging in the general election, the advisers said.
As punishment for breaking the rules, the DNC has vowed to strip Michigan and Florida, which scheduled its contest on Jan. 29, of their delegates. Florida has 210 delegates, Michigan 156.
"It's yet another reason why we need to get rid of Iowa and New Hampshire going first," said Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer.
He said the state still will hold its joint Democratic-Republican presidential primary on Jan. 15 because it's state law. He declined to speculate about whether Democrats may decide to also hold a presidential caucus on Feb. 9 to officially pick a nominee from the full Democratic field and decide delegates to the Democratic National Convention.
Michigan Republican Party Chairman Saul Anuzis said the decision by the Democrats just opens Michigan to more campaigning by Republicans hoping to win the state and its electoral votes.
"This is yet another example of why we need revolving regional primaries," Groff said.
"At this point, we don't know the long term political impact on the eventual nomination or how this will impact Democrats in the general election," he added.
"It's my wager that rank-and-file Democrats won't care about that. If anything, they'll blame local party leaders for messing it up," Groff said. "Certainly, party leaders are going to get upset, but they can't do anything about it because they have to support the nominee."
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