There has been much discussion about the moves of Michigan to make their primary earlier and has speed to some conspiracies that could have been prevented by actually looking up the rules and assessments on motivations that is lacking in some important details that needs to be cleared up.
First and most importantly for the conspiracy folks...what the state of Michigan calls a caucus is not what you all think is a caucus.
We call elections caucuses that are run by the state party and not the state. It is the exact same as a primary. The real difference is that the state party absorbs the costs of the election and not the state. Republicans thought they were being cute back in 2004 but not holding a state primary (they had their nominee) and forcing the Michigan Democratic Party to pay for its own primary.
So to be clear, the caucus that Michigan is talking about in no way resembles the Iowa form of caucus.
So please, stop with the conspiracy theories that think the caucus is Iowa style...
Now about the second point...
In Kos' diary where he praised the moving up of the caucus (primary) in Michigan, he took a swipe at the state Democrats who were resisting this move.
The Michigan Senate passed yesterday a bill moving up its primaries to Jan. 15, getting one step closer to really screwing Iowa. Too bad state Democrats are standing in the way.
I think Kos needs to clarify this statement about what is too bad...I read it as he believes that this is another example of Democrats not getting it.
Correct me if I am wrong.
The reason for the resistance is twofold:
First, the cost. Democrats are reluctant to pass on a $12 million bill to the people of Michigan at a time when the State Senate, (controlled by the very Republicans who passed this thing) are trying to nuke the budget. They just passed the first budget bill today. They are creating havoc throughout the state at all levels of government.
Second, voter turnout. The Democrats wanted to hold the caucuses on a Saturday, when working voters would find it much easier to get to the polls. The Republican proposal moves this to a Tuesday where turnout is likely to be much lower. If we have a caucus, we will be able to use online voting, increasing the ease with which some voters can vote.
An added bonus. Our state doesn't require voter registration that IDs party affiliation. With the caucus, we would be able to know exactly who voted in our caucus and help with voter ID.
I hope this helps provide some much needed background...please proceed with the conspiracy theories, but within the correct context.