Story Created:
Feb 16, 2008 at 1:56 PM EST
Story Updated:
Feb 16, 2008 at 5:45 PM EST
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Many top Democrats in Michigan are saying a "do over" presidential caucus isn't needed and would be too expensive and difficult to pull off.
But that isn't stopping grassroots activists like Willie Hall of Monroe from pushing for one.
Hall, the former NAACP president in Monroe County and a supporter of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, said he signed up dozens of new voters before the presidential primary, only to watch their enthusiasm turn to anger when they found out New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was the only major candidate on the Democratic ballot.
He said a caucus that involved both Clinton and Obama would be the best way to re-energize voters forced to vote for uncommitted because Obama and John Edwards pulled their names from the ballot.
It also would ensure that Michigan's 156 delegates and superdelegates are seated at the Democratic National Convention. He has organized caucus supporters in Monroe County and is planning to meet soon with more caucus backers in Detroit.
As the situation stands now, Michigan has been stripped of its delegates because it broke national party rules by holding a Jan. 15 primary. The same is true of Florida, which was stripped of its delegates for holding a Jan. 29 primary.
The DNC has suggested to both Michigan and Florida that holding another presidential contest of some kind would be one way to get the delegates seated.
But Florida party leaders say they don't see redoing their primary and Michigan Democratic Chairman Mark Brewer hasn't jumped on the caucus bandwagon, saying only that he's open to a solution negotiated with the Obama and Clinton campaigns and the DNC.
Michigan leaders for both candidates say they oppose holding another vote.
"We are strongly in support of the national (Obama campaign) position," said Christina Montague, statewide coordinator for the Michiganders for Obama campaign. "They do not support a do-over caucus in Michigan, and the delegates and superdelegates in Michigan and Florida should not count."
Joel Ferguson, a DNC member and co-chairman of Clinton's Michigan campaign, agreed another contest isn't needed to supersede the results of the state's Jan. 15 primary, which Clinton won.
"It's the silliest thing I ever heard," he said. Clinton's campaign insists the Michigan and Florida delegates should be seated in accordance with more than 2 million votes cast in the two states last month.
The stakes over whether the delegates are seated have grown increasingly high. With Obama and Clinton running near-even in delegates and superdelegates, the nomination could end up being decided at the convention.
The caucus-no caucus dispute has generated a fair amount of discussion on the Michiganliberal.com Web site, and there's even a YouTube video about it.
"Michigan's January primary was nothing more than a beauty contest and a straw poll," Nathaniel Krefman says in his video arguing for a do-over. He also says a caucus could draw the candidates to Michigan to address the state's issues. Before the primaries, none of the Democratic candidates campaigned in Florida and only Dennis Kucinich campaigned in Michigan.
For those who want to show their support for a caucus, a Web site now offers everything from T-shirts to baby bibs, keepsake boxes and wall clocks showing the words "Do Over!!" superimposed over a map of Michigan.
Brewer said he doesn't know who's selling the stuff on the cafepress.com Web site. The site says it's offering merchandise "for all those Democratic Michiganders who want their vote to count in 2008." No similar merchandise for Florida was listed on the site.
Hall said he's worried that some Democrats who feel like the primary didn't work well could look elsewhere on the ballot in November, a concern he has passed along to party leaders at the state and national levels.
"They're going to mess around and let a Republican win Michigan. And then everyone will be sitting around and saying 'I told you so,'" he said.
State Sen. Tupac Hunter, a Detroit Democrat who supports Obama, said he has heard from a lot of people who want a caucus but thinks holding one would be too expensive and "just open up a can of worms."
He, too, worries about souring Democratic voters if Michigan's delegates aren't seated or if the race ends up being decided by the elected officials and party insiders who make up the convention superdelegates, a prospect Obama supporters fear would make Clinton the nominee.
"You have a situation where people could become disaffected and discouraged," he said. "And if that happens, we don't win in November."
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On the Net:
Michigan Democratic Party: http://www.michigandems.com
Michigan Liberal: http://www.michiganliberal.com