Levin's Out To Bump IA and NH's Elbows

The Democratic party's flawed primary in Michigan stems directly from the campaign of Michigan's "spectacles challenged" senator, Carl Levin, to overturn the "privileged position" of Iowa and New Hampshire as the first caucus and primary in the nation.... leading an effort to have Michigan as one of the four states allowed to hold its primary in January. (CNN)

Told that they couldn't do this, Michigan nevertheless pushed their date forward.... so, the Rules and Bylaws Committee took away Michigan's delegates to the national convention and declared their primary illegal.

Harold Ickes, Hillary Clinton's point man on the committee, voted for this sanction.

Accordingly, Barack Obama and John Edwards, two of the three leading Democratic candidates, removed their names from the ballot.... Hillary Clinton did not.

Hillary's position before the committee last Saturday when this issue was revisited, was that since she got all of the votes.... except uncommitted.... she should get all of the delegates. Ickes argued for this position on her behalf.

The name for this proposal is "chutzpah," made by a candidate not interested in party unity.... heck, not interested in the party at all.

Although Obama had majority support on the committee to split the delegates 50-50, he compromised with a 59-69 split in Hillary's favor, reflecting the Michigan Democratic party's "fair reflection" of what the vote would have been if not flawed.

Hillary wasn't happy, and Ickes reserved her right to take it to the Credentials Committee even though he voted with the committee for the sanction in the first place.

Levin, and others, will undoubtedly keep pushing to knock Iowa and New Hampshire from first-in-the-nation status. One thing is certain, this unnecessarily messy Democratic primary will assure that their primary process will change by 2012.

The Clintons Backward Glance

Is this a diva trill?...... me, me, me, ME, me, me, me. No, it's the theme of Bill Clinton's remarks in New Hampshire while supposedly campaigning for Hillary. What he actually said last night is: "We can't be a new story, I'm sorry. I can't make her younger, taller, male. There are a lot of things I can't do." MSNBC

Here we thought opponent Barack Obama was Hillary Clinton's worst nightmare. No. Her worst nightmare is Bill.

As the polls show Obama steadily outpacing Hillary, the egocentric message coming from Bill amounts to.... "it's not my fault."

But, maybe it is.

Bill is yesterday, making Hillary and her "experience" yesterday. The voters sent a loud message in Iowa.... they want tomorrow. The polls agree.... it's all about tomorrow.

Like a robin on a June bug, Drudge pounced on the odor of desperation coming from the Clinton campaign in their flash today "from one top campaign insider.... Facing a double-digit defeat in New Hampshire, a sudden collapse in national polls and an expected fund-raising drought, Senator Hillary Clinton is preparing for a tough decision: Does she get out of the race? And when?!"

They also reported that John Edwards confided to a senior staffer that he is staying in the race because Hillary "could soon be out."

Rumors of a campaign meltdown are rife. A Clinton adviser told the Politico, "we're going to lose South Carolina." While Nevada is definitely pulling back as her endorsement by the powerful culinary union is in limbo, evidently awaiting the NH results.

On MSNBC's "Morning Joe" show this morning, Andrea Mitchell reported that many of Hillary's supporters at her rallies in New Hampshire are from Long Island and Upstate New York. NBC Washington bureau chief Tim Russert confirmed this, adding that at a rally he attended at Nashua High School over the weekend he was stunned to find the school's parking lot filled with cars bearing Massachusetts plates.

It's beginning to look like the perfect storm.... a dropping barometer of expectations, the gathering thunderheads of the Obama whirlwind, and her yesterday-sailor Bill heading for the lifeboats. If Hillary stays the course, it's going to be a dark ride.

Iowa's Purple Passion

Today Iowa shows New Hampshire how it's done.

No, it's not time yet for the caucuses.... that contest is still five+ weeks away.

It's time for the #1 seeded University of Northern Iowa (11-0) to host the #17 University of New Hampshire (7-4) at the UNI-Dome for the NCAA Football Championship Division playoff opener.

Kickoff is at 6:30pm.... in the Des Moines area you can watch it on Mediacom Channel 22. So, tune in and watch Northern Iowa's first round in their quest for the national prize.... go Panthers!

Iowa's Last To Be First?

Thursday, January 3, 2008 will probably mark the end of an era.

Considering the jumbled musical chairs the primary season has become, it is likely it will be the last time Iowa will hold its caucuses as first in the nation.

Even at that, to be first this time around both the Iowa GOP and Democratic parties have had to push their caucus date forward to New Year's week.... the night of the Orange Bowl game.... January 3.

Other larger and more populous states are throwing elbows, crowding into line.... and really, who can blame them. Every four years the national spotlight falls on Iowa as presidential wanna-bes of both parties travel, spend money.... almost camp out in the state. Other states want part of the action.

In the future, retail politics as practiced in schools, churches, even living rooms of prospective Iowa caucus goers will give way to the realities of the electronic age.... and sadly one-on-one campaigning will fall into the dustbin of history. As quaint as the notion of knowing your neighbor.

Although just four states.... Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina.... were designated by the Democratic party to hold their nominating contests pre-February 5, Florida jumped their date ahead forcing South Carolina to hold their primaries earlier, while Michigan set its primary for January 15, a week earlier than the scheduled date for New Hampshire. New Hampshire will undoubtedly nose forward on the calendar.... bumper-car politics.

Hopefully when the primary scheduling traffic jam is addressed for future contests, other common-sense things will be addressed also. Like limiting the length of the campaign season.... and reining in the monstrous cost that increasingly only produces corporate-beholden nominees.

Otherwise, just rearranging the order of the starting lineup won't save the dangerously out-of-control Mad Max race to the White House.

Puerile Primary Poker

New Hampshire thinks they are in the catbird seat.... keeping mum while fiddling with the date of their primary, thus making other early primary states sweat it out. Especially Iowa who, as New Hampshire well knows, by state law is required to hold their caucuses at least eight days earlier than any other contest.

The Secretary of State in New Hampshire, Bill Gardner, has the sole power to schedule his state's primary.... and he's not telling anyone what his decision will be, although some are hinting at December 18. December 18! In the midst of the Holiday Season.

Such an early date might work against New Hampshire.

In 1988 Michigan held a delegate selection process before Iowa, and got little attention. Later, Alaska held an earlier contest as well. Never heard of that.... no wonder. It was no big deal.

While Iowa Governor Chet Culver (D) has said "In this state, we're going to have Christmas," others in his party aren't so accommodating.

As David Nagle, the former Iowa Democratic Party chairman who largely established the current calendar in 1984, warned in a memo to party leaders... "If New Hampshire chooses to move in front of us, then we will move again."

This delegate selection musical-chairs is just another annoyance for voters faced with unreliable electronic voting machines, and inundated with dinner-time campaign phone calls and focus-group-tested slick candidate television ads.

Let's not further degrade the primaries with juvenile "gotcha" games. Serious voters.... who must choose that candidate who can lead us out of the current abysmal state of our country.... deserve a serious primary process .

Starting Gate Shuffle

It's a strange election season. The horses are trying to line up, but the race promoters keep changing the position of the starting gates.

This coming week, "NH awaits Michigan primary decision," to see if Michigan will elbow out South Carolina and hold its primary on January 15, which would push New Hampshire's to no later than January 8 and Iowa's first starting gate position to early January or the Christmas season.... not a jolly prospect.

While this hokey-pokey is going on, some of the candidate horses have worked themselves into a lather, pawing the ground and running from one gate to another.... sometimes even frantically galloping around the track in false starts.... while others are still in the stables munching on hay while their trainers curry and fuss over them.

Fabled Fred Thompson is just now being saddled up, and race fans are asking, "Is It Too Late for the Late Show?"

So far, bets placed on the horses give Fabled Fred the second-best odds, but many are nervous because he hasn't run in a while.... even left the tracks to play a police horse on TV. Many bettors are worried that he isn't in racing form and will fade long before the wire.

A few of the intrepid race fans are calling encouragement from the stands, but most are still in the parking lot, and, wanting to back the right horse in the most important race of their lifetime.