The rank-and-file voters don't give a rat's ass about the delegate mess. There might be a few exceptions, as you can see by going to Larry Johnson's lunatic site, No Quarter.

This story was news of by and for the pundits.

Despite Revote Controversy, Obama Takes Lead In Michigan

May be the headline should be "Because of MI Delegate Vote settlement...."

Anyway, any one who has a remote inkling of MI political landscape knows- the delegate settlement is less likely to make any difference.

Obama was always the strong candidate in MI, provided he's on the ballot. Not many in MI ever believed the entire mess would affect him.

FL is a different case.

Nobody, not once, has ever given a persuasive reason as to why the delegate issue in MI would hurt Obama. Why would that have the slightest bearing on whether people prefer Obama or McCain? These numbers do not surprise me at all.

This really doesn't surprise me. Obama's been seeing a boost pretty much everywhere. My only hope is that it will continue or even increase in the weeks and months to come.

The notion that the democrats would lose Michigan over this was a Clinton talking point. Most people in Michigan didn't care about this and none of them blamed Obama. Granholm (a clinton backer) got the bulk of the blame.

When the war is ongoing and the economy is in the toilet, people aren't going to vote based on some arace intra-party squabble.

One issue where McCain and McLie(berman) are not getting enough credit: helping to unify the Democratic Party. Thank you, no, really, THANK YOU!

Many Michigan democrats that I know were widely opposed to the re-vote, because they would have been left out of it. That's because they voted in the Republican primary since the Democratic one was never meant to count. They were thrilled that the re-vote didn't happen. The only people with any bitterness might be Hillary supporters who pushed the re-vote as a way to swing the primary, which it didn't. This issue is dead, and so are the Michigan hopes of economic know-nothing John McCain.

Another media bullshit talking point of the past few months put to rest.

Nice to see you still prancing around this site, dropping your troll-like preemptive "I told you so" rants Aimey May (see top of thread).

The forces of the Hill don't seem to give up. I just received a polling call from someone who was soliciting people "who believe that the popular vote should rule, that every vote should count" and all that. If Obama looks like he would win MI, that should at least take the wind out of that effort.

hey folks,
wow, i found some interesting information on a PUMA group website. this is serious in my book and will lay the ground for folks agreeing this primary has been illegitimate.

These much-heralded rules, specifically DNC Delegate Selection Rule 11A [PDF], states the following:

"No meetings, caucuses, conventions or primaries which constitute the first determining stage in the presidential nomination process (the date of the primary in primary states, and the date of the first tier caucus in caucus states) may be held prior to the first Tuesday in February or after the second Tuesday in June in the calendar year of the national convention. Provided, however, that the Iowa precinct caucuses may be held no earlier than 22 days before the first Tuesday in February; that the Nevada first-tier caucuses may be held no earlier than 17 days before the first Tuesday in February; that the New Hampshire primary may be held no earlier than 14 days before the first Tuesday in February; and that the South Carolina primary may be held no earlier than 7 days before the first Tuesday in February. In no instance may a state which scheduled delegate selection procedures on or between the first Tuesday in February and the second Tuesday in June 1984 move out of compliance with the provisions of this rule."

Thus, the rules were not only broken by Florida and Michigan, but also by Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Iowa held their caucus on January 3, 2008 instead of January 14. New Hampshire held their primary on January 8, 2008 instead of January 22. South Carolina held their primary on January 26, 2008 instead of January 29.

The penalty for violating Rule 11A, according to DNC Delegate Selection Rule 20C1a [PDF], states:

"In the event the Delegate Selection Plan of a state party provides or permits a meeting, caucus, convention or primary which constitutes the first determining stage in the presidential nominating process to be held prior to or after the dates for the state as provided in Rule 11 of these rules, or in the event a state holds such a meeting, caucus, convention or primary prior to or after such dates, the number of pledged delegates elected in each category allocated to the state pursuant to the Call for the National Convention shall be reduced by fifty (50%) percent, and the number of alternates shall also be reduced by fifty (50%) percent. In addition, none of the members of the Democratic National Committee and no other unpledged delegate allocated pursuant to Rule 8.A. from that state shall be permitted to vote as members of the state’s delegation. In determining the actual number of delegates or alternates by which the state’s delegation is to be reduced, any fraction below .5 shall be rounded down to the nearest whole number, and any fraction of .5 or greater shall be rounded up to the next nearest whole number."

According to Rule 20C1a, Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Michigan, and Florida should have had their delegates reduced by 50%. However, Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina were not penalized at all to protect their first-in-the-nation status, while Michigan and Florida were stripped of all their delegates. Thus, the DNC is applying the rules arbitrarily.

ohh and FYI...i will create a new ID here. so no misunderstanding...michelle bociurkiw will just be michelle. see you around folks!

JOIN PUMA 2008!

Al Gore's vetter... completely out of the question. He had no idea Lieberman was a Republican.

McCain is the guy who has trouble in Michigan because that's where he said, "these jobs aren't coming back" in one of his Town Hell meetings there. I think the only way he could pull off Michigan would be to have Romney as his VP choice. But, then again, Romney would make problems for McCain in other states.

AIMEEMAY IS RIGHT. OBAMA MUST APOLOGISE FOR THE DETROIT MAYOR. AND ALSO FOT THE PISTONS COLLAPSE IN THE FORTH QUARTER OF GAME SIX AGAINST THE CELTICS.