John Nichols: Michigan's Ominous Message for Hillary Clinton

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Forum Name General Discussion
Topic subject John Nichols: Michigan's Ominous Message for Hillary Clinton
Topic URL http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2696895#2696895
2696895, John Nichols: Michigan's Ominous Message for Hillary Clinton
Posted by marmar on Wed Jan-16-08 10:11 AM

from The Nation:



BLOG | Posted 01/15/2008 @ 10:59pm
Michigan's Ominous Message for Hillary Clinton



DETROIT -- The question in Tuesday's Michigan Democratic primary was not whether Hillary Clinton could beat anybody.

The question was whether Clinton could beat nobody.

As the only leading Democratic contender to keep her name on the ballot after Michigan officials moved their primary ahead of the opening date scheduled by the Democratic National Committee, Clinton was perfectly positioned. She had no serious opposition. She also had the strong support of top Michigan Democrats such as Governor Jennifer Granholm and U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow.

Usually, a prominent presidential contender running a primary campaign without serious opposition and with strong in-state support from party leaders can count on winning 90 percent or more of the vote. That's how it went for George Bush when he was running without serious opposition in Republican primaries in 2004, and for Bill Clinton when he was essentially unopposed in the Democratic primaries in 1996.

But Hillary Clinton got nowhere near 90 percent of the vote in Tuesday's Michigan primary.

With most of the ballots counted, the New York senator was winning uninspiring 55 percent of the Democratic primary vote.

A remarkable 40 percent of Michiganders who participated in the primary voted for nobody, marking the "Uncommitted" option on their ballots. Another 4 percent backed Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who brought his anti-war, anti-corporate campaign to Michigan and made some inroads among Muslim voters in the Detroit area and liberals in Washtenaw County -- where he was taking almost 10 percent. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?bid=1&pid=271003