Michigan Mischief = No Mandate, No "Big Mo" & No GOP Nominee

Republican operatives are worried Michigan Democrats and Independents may alter the GOP primary results in the Wolverine State, essentially picking the eventual Republican nominee.

While the NY Sun article, "Mich. Democrats May Determine Republican Nominee" doesn't mention the cross-the-aisle meddling advocated by DKos' Markos Moulitsas to support Romney it does reinforce Kos' message: the Michigan results will be dismissed or questioned by whomever finishes second in the primary.

So, if the winner of today's primary receives a questionable mandate and negligible momentum heading into South Carolina, the next stop on the GOP's chaotic campaign of '08 how can anyone really believe the article's headline?

Primary Madness

The AP is reporting the Michigan Supreme Court has ruled a January 15, 2008 primary date can move forward. The mid-January date will mean Michigan leapfrogs over the Nevada caucuses as well as the South Carolina and Florida primaries. The Michigan Dems risk losing all of its delegates to the Denver Convention next summer, although they are contemplating holding a separate caucus at a later date to avoid the DNC-imposed punishment for breaking the scheduling rules.

We have 43 days until the Iowa caucuses - and we're still awaiting word from NH SecState John Gardner as to when he will schedule his state's first in the nation primary.

One wonders how the presidential campaigns are contemplating such a fluid (and chaotic) nominating calendar. The longest campaign in American history is going to be a mad winter dash across country - and then we're going to have two presumptive nominees campaigning for ten long months before the November vote.