If Michigan is an open primary and has no Dem delegates in play...

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

Should Michigan Dems cross-over for Ron Paul there?

(This is not an endorsement of Ron Paul in any meaningful sense, but if Dem primary votes don't count in Mich. it would be pretty damn funny if Paul won Romney's home state and all those very real republican delegates. An anti-war contingent at the pug convention would be pretty good TV.)

[hedgehog]

1. Be careful what you wish for.

There's a chance the Republican will get elected. On the other hand, is any one of them any better or worse than the others?

[ClassWarrior]

2. The OP is talking about a primary, not the general.

And if RP takes Michigan's Rape-Publican electoral votes, it'll drive the Radical RW crazy.

NGU.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

3. I'm fairly confident that Ron Paul will not be elected president.

I know, never say never, but... c'mon.

[hedgehog]

5. Nixon, Reagan, Bush I, Bush II

Nothing shocks me anymore.

[RiverStone]

4. Is the spat between MI and the DNC just a dare game?

For at least this election cycle - can MI just back up and do as the DNC wishes? Reschedule their primary after Iowa? I can't imagine Dean wanting to eliminate the right for voters in MI (or FLA) to have a say. That would piss tons of folks off.

I say to MI Dems - compromise for the moment! We don't don't need a turf war right before a general - it makes the Dem party look bad.

But, propose a revolving Primary or different schedule for the NEXT election cycle. That is where Howard Dean can compromise. It also does not make sense that Iowa and NH always get to go first.

[iamjoy]

6. Well, MI Might Be Able To Change

Although, with the primary three months away, it's getting pretty late. They at least have a Democratic majority in their legislature. Also, municipalities may have scheduled elections to coincide with the Jan 15 primary - so it may not be that easy.

The situation is a little different in Florida. We have a Republican led legislature here. So, even if the Democrats who voted for the early primary wanted to recant to avoid sanctions and to protect the right of Florida Democrats, there's no way the Republicans would support it. Heck, they're loving every minute of this, using it to encourage people to switch parties. That means the state will not pay for another primary after 2/5. So, any kind of caucus would be solely paid for by the Democrats. FDP is not going to do it. The publicly given reason is they don't want to spend millions on a caucus instead of on state house races, etc. A caucus would exclude absentee voters, those with limited mobility and who had work or other obligations on that day. Supposedly. I'm not sure I trust what the FDP is telling me.

Anyway, we don't want a turf war and we don't need one - but that's exactly what we have.