Detroit Free Press- Give State Voters Primary Power

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071112/OPINION01/711120311/1069

IN OUR OPINION
Give state voters primary power
November 12, 2007

Michigan's best shot at making a big statement in next year's presidential election is a primary -- a full-fledged, state-sponsored election in which candidates from both sides compete to prove they'd be best to lead the nation, and address economic and environmental issues that are front and center here.

But with every passing day, the possibility of that primary seems to dwindle. Already, most of the Democratic presidential candidates have withdrawn from the ballot, and the Republican National Committee has threatened to cut the Michigan delegation in half at next summer's GOP nominating convention, all because the scheduled primary date disrupts the parties' rigid allegiance to Iowa and New Hampshire going first.

Now, Democrats in Lansing may have stamped out any chance of the primary by blocking a bill to rescue the election from a potentially fatal legal snag raised by a judge earlier in the week.

Ostensibly, the reason for the impasse is over the Democratic insistence that a laundry list of other election reforms be considered along with changes to make the primary legal. They said they wanted to talk about changing the voter ID requirement. They want to discuss automatic absentee voting.

But at this point, regarding this election, that's just silliness, and real amateurish political gaming, too.

The truth is that the other reform issues -- which merit some discussion, at some point -- were just cover for Democrats who were themselves uncomfortable with the idea of a primary, or who were carrying water for presidential candidates who think they'll fare better in Michigan if a closed, party-controlled caucus is held.

Either way, the interests of Michigan voters lose. Politics comes first, an unconscionable result of a process that should have been all about making votes cast in our state more, not less, important.

It's not too late; a compromise could still salvage the primary. But we're close to a drop-dead date. Will Michigan matter next year? Or will politics keep the state's voters on the proverbial sidelines?