I've been posting over at DU, and some news stories have noted, that the candidates pulling their names off the ballots might put Michigan's electoral votes at risk in the general election. But is that true? I know how I feel... As I said in one of my posts (on DU), I understand the "no campaigning" and the taking away of delegates, really I do. The National party has to enforce its rules. Not campaigning is a passive affirmation (by the candidates) of the rules.
But the candidates who took their names off the ballot actively slapped Michigan voters in the face in a pure pander to Iowa and New Hampshire voters. They essentially said "out loud and in our faces" that Iowa and New Hampshire voters are more important to them than Michigan voters. That doesn't sit well with me, and I think, not with many people here in Michigan.
Michigan is purple, nearly 50-50, in fact (Kerry only won it with 51%), and
I think it could definitely make a difference in who wins the state. While I suspect die-hard Democrats will hold their noses and vote for the Dem nominee even if it is one who took their name off, I also think that a lot of those die-hards won't work as hard for a candidate that slapped them in the face.
And a lot of swing voters don't consider themselves "married" to any particular party, but they ARE hurting--Michigan's economy really is in dire straits--and being slapped in the face by those candidates on top of it will have an effect on their enthusiasm for the candidate, if it's one of the slappers. They may not vote for the republicon, but they're more likely to just stay home... and that has consequences down-ballot as well.
As for me, I am, at the moment, disinclined to donate or work for the GE campaign of any of the slappers. Yeah, I'll vote for them, and I may do some down-ballot volunteering and donating, but the slappers have lost my money and my energy.
Someone asked, in reply to that post, how widespread my own feelings might be among Michigan voters, and I don't know, so I thought I'd ask other Michigan voters who might hang out here.
(Note, this is on the honor system, there's no way to enforce it, but if you can't vote in Michigan, please don't vote in the poll. And if you're a Michigan voter and do vote in the poll, please leave a note below so we can at least compare totals.)
As of today (I understand your feelings might change over time, but this is about how you feel right now)... If the eventual Democratic nominee is one of the candidates who pulled their name off the ballot (and I include Kucinich here, because he tried to do so, he acted "with intent to slap," even though he screwed up), will you: