May 30, 2008 11:53 AM
Michigan: The forgotten back story
As Democrats prepare to decide the fate of the Michigan and Florida delegations on Saturday in Washington, D.C., it's important to remember a little of the behind-the-scenes drama that unfolded as candidates decided whether to take their names off the Michigan ballot.
On Oct. 11, 2007, Iowa blogger Lynda Waddington of the "Essential Estrogen" site had a nice scoop on part of the soap opera -- claims that Sen. Barack Obama's campaign was urging other candidates to pull out of the Michigan contest to diminish any benefit Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton hoped to win.
You can find the links HERE.
As Waddington wrote at the time:
"Five individuals connected to five different campaigns have confirmed -- but only under condition of anonymity -- that the situation that developed in connection with the Michigan ballot is not at all as it appears on the surface. The campaign for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, arguably fearing a poor showing in Michigan, reached out to the others with a desire of leaving New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as the the only candidate on the ballot. The hope was that such a move would provide one more political obstacle for the Clinton campaign to overcome in Iowa."
"Despite speaking in confidence, sources were quick to point out that the discussions were not the final deciding factor when candidates' names were removed from the ballot."
"'Yes, such discussion did take place,' said one national staffer, 'but that doesn't mean we were influenced by it. The decision to pull from the Michigan ballot -- or other renegade states' ballots for that matter -- was made the day we signed the pledge with the four early states.'"
All these months later, as the fate of Michigan is decided, it would be nice to hear from some of the insiders involved in this tale.
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