Michigan Democratic Party Fighting Irrelevancy of Their Primary

Seen in the Detroit News:

Top Michigan Democrats made another plea Wednesday to coax supporters of presidential candidates Barack Obama and John Edwards to vote “uncommitted” in Tuesday’s Michigan primary, rather than staying home or crossing over to vote in the Republican contest.

Obama, Edwards, and Bill Richardson yanked their names off the ballot here, leaving New York Sen. Hillary Clinton as the only leading contender for Democratic voters.

U.S. Sen. Carl Levin and state Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer said Michigan Dems can still have an indirect say in the nominating process if they check the “uncommitted” box on the ballot. State law prohibits write-ins for candidates who have not authorized write-in campaigns; Obama, Edwards and Richardson have not.

If “uncommitted” draws at least 15 percent of the vote in a congressional district, delegates not bound to any candidate could be sent to the national convention, possibly enabling Obama and Edwards supporters to play a role in the nomination.

Again, this weirdness is a result of the DNC’s edict that states holding unsanctioned primaries before the 5 February starting line would see their delegations stripped of their votes…as well as agreement among the major candidates to boycott the state.

So, unless something happens, Hillary stands to win by a landslide in Michigan, receiving no delegates for the showing.

The story above would seem to be the Michigan Dems saying, “Come out and vote anyway.  You don’t have to vote for Clinton.  Here’s how….”