But, Michigan? FUCK 'EM. The Michigan state senate Democrats - the minority party in their state senate - all voted against the January 15th primary, but only a technicality. They lost to the Republican state senate majority anyway, but... the Michigan state house - which is Democrat dominated - still approved the early primary. Their governor, Democrat Jennifer Granholm, was also in favor of th earlier date. And not only did they move their primary date up, but since they allowed candidates to withdraw their names from the ballot, all candidates except Hillary did so (paving her way to a completely meaningless victory, since she was running against "Undecided"). At least in Florida all the names were on the ballot - Michigan's contest was lobsided from the outset (with only one name on the ballot) AND the primary was open, so Democratic voters could cross over to vote for a Republican (either to sabotage the Republican race or just to have a vote that would actually count for something)... all a recipe for low Democratic turnout and making the actual vote even more meaningless (which is why it was tossed in the end anyway, in favor of a compromise distribution of delegates that does not reflect the primary vote). The Michigan Dems first tried fighting the DNC on the grounds that they had the RIGHT to be assholes, then started scrambling for the state to pay for a re-vote primary, which 1) couldn't be done by the state legislature's deadline for recess (and the Republicans had every reason to hold up that process anyway) and 2) would be highly illegal and immoral, because you couldn't prevent the Dems that voted in the Republican primary from voting AGAIN in the Democratic one (thus giving some Michigan Dems two votes in the primaries, violating the one-man-one-vote principle). Even funding the Democratic primary in Michigan with solely national or state party money would still be shady since it would still violate one-man-one-vote. So, unlike Florida, I have no sympathy (and quite a bit of antipathy) for the Michigan Democrats who just won't quit being assholes - they tried to break the Democratic Party rules for their own prestige, they got called on their audacity, and now they have the temerity to claim they are being victimized. ROLL OVER AND PLAY DEAD, MICHIGAN. You got your goddamn half-delegate-vote compromise, which is more than you should have gotten in the first place. Seriously, fuck 'em.

So, there you have both a fairly solid summary of the situation AND my opinions and biases splattered liberally throughout. Enjoy!

--Jeff