A Chill Wind Blows Through Michigan

(New Buffalo, Michigan)

 

    If there is a more beautiful coastal town in America, I don't know it. This week my campaign travels took me to the tiny coastal town of New Buffalo, Michigan. This is embarrassing to say, but although I lived in Wisconsin for my first 25 years, I had never set foot in Michigan (except to change planes). I had always wanted to stand on a beach on the other side of lake Michigan, and - at age 49 - I finally reached that goal.

 

    
The view was breathtaking! But it was cold, and a 30-knot wind was blowing from the west across the lake. The waves were at least 10 feet high. Michigan was angry (the lake that is, and many of the voters, too!)

 

    The weather was a fitting analogy for where Michigan is in this year's presidential campaign. Many voters feel a "chill wind" has blown through their desire to be "kingmakers" (or "queenmakers") in this year's campaign. Michigan and Florida have both been penalized by the Democratic National Committee (DNC), for moving up their primary elections, despite party orders not to do so. As a result, their delegates are not being recognized and may not be seated at the Democratic National Convention in August.

 

    Without the Florida and Michigan delegates, Hillary Clinton cannot win the nomination; and even if they're counted, she remains a long shot! If Barack Obama is the nominee, he faces the daunting task of trying to win both states in November, even though many Democrats who feel disenfranchised are threatening to stay home.

 

    Cherie Heyn works on the beach at New Buffalo. She voted for Hillary Clinton in the primary and is disappointed over where this dispute has left her candidate. "I think she should be the president," Heyn says. I broach the prospect of Clinton's being Obama's vice-presidential running mate, and I get a reaction chillier than the wind. "I doubt that, too," Heyn says, clearly not hiding her disappointment.

 

    She is a very kind, friendly lady, and smiles when I mention how beautiful her town is and that I want to come back to vacation. But I can tell my questions are reopening a wound that has really hurt people in Michigan. They want to make a difference, but feel their voice is not being counted. As to whether the DNC members will decide at their Saturday meeting in Washington that they are going to count Michigan and Florida,   Heyn simply states, "They either are, or they're not."

 

    I don't dare ask her if she is prepared to support Obama. I have made that mistake before when talking to those still clinging to Clinton and got stares more piercing than the Lake Michigan wind. Instead, I ask whether she is concerned about Democrats staying home in November. To my surprise, she says, "I don't think that's so." How many other Michigan Democrats share that optimism is unclear; but, as Heyn adds, "Only time will tell."

 

    This weekend I return to California; then on Sunday I am off to South Dakota and Montana for the final two primaries which are on Tuesday.

 

    Check back often at www.MarkCurtisMedia.blogspot.com.

 

 

    

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