The Michigan Music Stops and Several Seats Remain Empty

In a game of “Michigan chairs,” New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is the only front-running Democratic candidate who will be on that state’s primary ballot. Her chief opponents — Sen. Barrack Obama of Illinois and North Carolinian John Edwards — have abided by both the letter and the spirit of a pledge not to campaign in Michigan if the state moved up its primary.

Joining Clinton on the ballot are Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd and former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Delaware Sen. Joe Biden announced early today that they had also requested their names not be placed on the Michigan primary ballot. The website of Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich stated that he filed an affidavit of withdrawal with the the state of Michigan “shortly before deadline.”

Hari Sevugan, communications director for the Dodd campaign, sought to explain the reasoning behind remaining on the ballot.

“We are committed to the importance of Iowa and New Hampshire going first, and we signed the four-state pledge to hopefully prevail upon the Democratic National Committee and the state parties to add clarity to that situation,” Sevugan said. “However, it does not benefit any of us, if we are the nominee, to pull our name off the ballot and slight Michigan voters.”

Mark Daley, Iowa communications director for Clinton, said his campaign is committed to playing by the rules.

“We are committed to honoring Iowa’s role in the nominating process,” he said. “We will support the pledge and not campaign or spend money in states violating the DNC rules.”

The Biden campaign has singled out Clinton and Dodd with the brunt of its ire for not following its view of the intent — if not the letter — of the month-old pledge.

“Every campaign made a pledge to the four states to support the calendar created by the Democratic National Committee that placed a premium on retail politics and provided a level playing field for the candidates, regardless of money or celebrity,” said Luis Navarro, campaign manager for Biden for President. “Now that these contests are fast approaching and with the final dates of the Michigan and New Hampshire primaries still in doubt, the Dodd and Clinton campaigns have chosen to hedge their bets, thereby throwing this process into further disarray. In doing so, they have abandoned Democrats in Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina.”

The adults decided to embark on this children’s game when Michigan legislators voted to move their state’s primary to Jan. 15 — clearly outside the nomination calendar set by the DNC.

The drama is important to Iowa for several reasons. First, the candidates did sign a pledge that they would not campaign or partake in contests set outside the official nomination calendar. Second, any states moving ahead of the Feb. 5 starting line could influence New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner to push up his state’s first-in-the-nation primary, which could, in turn, influence Iowa, Nevada and South Carolina to alter their dates as well.

Michigan Democratic leaders have said that they will hold their contest on Jan. 15, regardless of which candidates appear on the ballot. It remains unclear if the contest, which is quickly turning into little more than a severely limited beauty contest, will continue to be a guiding influence on the four early states.