Democrats Strip Michigan of Delegates
VIENNA, Va. (AP) — Democratic leaders voted Saturday to strip Michigan of all its delegates to the national convention next year as punishment for scheduling an early presidential primary in violation of party rules.
In spite of the vote, some party leaders and officials said they believed the delegates would eventually be seated at the convention.
Michigan, with 156 delegates, has scheduled a Jan. 15 primary. Democratic Party rules prohibit states other than Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina from holding nominating contests before Feb. 5. Florida was hit with a similar penalty in August for scheduling a Jan. 29 primary.
Michigan officials anticipated the action by the Democratic National Committee’s rules panel. But Michigan Democratic Chairman Mark Brewer said before the vote that he didn’t think the delegates would be lost for good. He expects the nominee will insist the state’s delegates be seated at the convention.
Saturday’s vote further diminishes the significance of Michigan’s Democratic primary. All the major Democratic candidates have already agreed not to campaign in either Michigan or Florida because the states violated party rules. And in Michigan, most of the major candidates won’t even be on the ballot.
Democratic candidates John Edwards, Barack Obama, Bill Richardson and Joe Biden have withdrawn their names from the ballot to satisfy Iowa and New Hampshire, which were unhappy Michigan was challenging their leadoff status on the primary calendar.
That leaves Hillary Rodham Clinton, Dennis Kucinich, Chris Dodd, Mike Gravel and “uncommitted,” as the choices on the Democratic ballot in Michigan.
The DNC rules panel voted by voice vote, with only a few dissents.
Former DNC Chairman Don Fowler, a member of the rules panel, said stripping the delegates from Michigan and Florida - and prohibiting candidates from campaigning there during the primaries - will hurt party-building efforts in those states.
Fowler also said that stripping the delegates was unnecessary, since many party insiders believe that the eventual nominee will have them restored at the convention.
“No one at this table believes that the delegates from Florida and Michigan will be absent from the convention,” Fowler told the rules panel.
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said in a statement: “The threat not to seat the delegates of Michigan and Florida at the Democratic convention is a hollow threat. They will be seated, and when they are, it will be plain for all to see that the privileged position that New Hampshire and Iowa have extracted through threats and pledges from candidates is on its last legs.”
Under convention rules, a credentials committee controlled by the presidential candidate with the most delegates will verify the legitimacy of delegates.
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