Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed a bill on Tuesday allowing Michigan to move its presidential primary from Feb. 26 up to Jan. 15. The jump puts Michigan among the top few states to vote, although the exact position is somewhat difficult to decipher.
Iowa typically holds its Democratic primary first, and is slated to hold its 2008 date ahead of Michigan’s on Jan. 14.
New Hampshire, which has always voted second, doesn’t want to lose priority among the candidates and has a law stating that it will move its primary to a date two weeks before that of the leapfrog states’ votes.
Nevada and South Carolina typically vote third and fourth and are considering moving their election dates forward.
It gets crazier, but the jump essentially puts greater national focus on Michigan’s vote.
Candidates generally center their agendas on winning the earlier states’ primaries, so the state should benefit from an increased media spotlight.
But some of the more renowned Democratic candidates, including the likes of Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Barack Obama, and John Edwards, have signed pledges to ignore states who leapfrog ahead.
So Michigan ironically gains national attention but risks being passed over by the candidates.
“Ignore” is pretty strong language and could discourage voters from choosing some of these candidates. Who wants a president who will not pay attention to their needs?
However, Granholm’s gutsy decision is a gamble that the state needed to make. Unemployment levels have risen far too high, and taking action is the only logical choice.
It’s about time Michigan starts looking out for its own good. She also placed her loyalty to the state above her loyalty to the Democratic Party.
The losers in this situation are the state’s student campaign supporters.
They have worked hard in anticipation of their candidate’s arrival, and must now carry on knowing that their candidate might not show up, which is a huge turnoff.
Richard Hula, chairman of the MSU Department of Political Science, sees the state’s move as unnecessary.
“Michigan might get more attention, but if everyone else does it, it makes the situation a little crazy,” he said.
The Democratic National Committee might want to consider applying more stringent rules.
The organization should either allow states to move their election days or create tougher measures so that candidates who agree to skip over offending states will do so under legally binding terms.
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