Below The Beltway

The word out of Michigan seems to be that efforts to bring about a new primary have failed:

The headline from MIRS, Michigan’s Hotline:

Ding-Dong, Do-Over Primary Is Dead
“Time of death for the do-over Michigan primary? Call it at about 11 a.m. today.”

A Lansing insider IMs to explain the latest development:

The Senate Dems just had a long caucus meeting following their long phone call with the Gang of Four [as Carl Levin and others pushing a re-vote are called], and the result is that no one moved. Votes aren’t there. Thus, it will not go to a vote in the Senate. And barring some other last minute miracle that doesn’t involve those four, the governor and Hillary traveling to Michigan, it is dead as a doornail.

Coincidentally, Hillary is in the Wolverine State today:

DETROIT, Michigan (CNN) – Hillary Clinton traveled to Michigan Wednesday and challenged Barack Obama to approve a new proposal for a primary re-vote, painting the issue as a matter of civil rights and charging that Republicans may take the state in November if voters there do not get a say in picking the Democratic nominee.

“I am here for one simple reason,” Clinton said to a small crowd of supporters gathered at an AFSCME hall. “To make sure Michigan’s votes are counted, and your voices are heard in this election.”

(…)

Clinton said the matter of Michigan’s delegates boils down to each candidate’s commitment to voting rights and questioned if Obama is committed to “empowering the American people.”

“This is a crucial test,” she said. “Does he mean what he says or not?”

Citing the number of voters in the Florida and Michigan primaries, she said that “nearly two and a half million Americans are in danger of being shut out of our Democratic process.”

“I think that’s wrong, and frankly it is un-American,” Clinton said to applause, as supporters behind her waved signs reading “Michigan votes count” and “Count my vote!”

She also argued that “ignoring Michigan and Florida would be a grave mistake” because it could alienate Democrats in those states.

“If the Democrats send a message that we don’t care about your votes, I’m sure John McCain and the Republicans would be happy to have them,” she said. “In fact, the Republicans will argue that Michigan and Florida voters shouldn’t trust the Democrats to look out for them when we won’t even listen to you.”

And, prior to this announcement, the DNC had said it was in favor of a re-vote:

Democratic National Committee officials have been quoted for a couple of days on background saying they thought a Michigan re-vote fit the rules, and they’ve finally gone on the record with that in a memo to Rules and Bylaws Committee members:

We have recently been asked whether the legislation as proposed by Michigan would fit within the framework of the National Party’s Delegate Selection Rules. Our review of this legislation indicates that it would, in fact, fit within the framework of the Rules if it were passed by the state legislature and used by the Michigan State Democratic Party as the basis of drafting a formal Delegate Selection Plan. If a formal Delegate Selection Plan is received we will convene a meeting of the RBC to consider such a Plan.

The memo puts the ball a bit more firmly in Obama’s court, where he seems inclined to let it lie.

Which is, I think, a big mistake on Obama’s part. As I’ve mentioned on more than one occasion in the past, the prospect of the DNC not seating any delegates from Florida and Michigan at the convention would be a disaster for the party. If Barack Obama is seen as the primary reason that at least one of those states, Michigan, didn’t go forward with a re-vote, it is going to hurt him.

At the very least, a move like this makes him look more like just another politician than the candidate of “hope” and “change.”