David Bonior: NH's primary must go before my home state of Michigan's
THIS YEAR, my home state of Michigan violated Democratic National Committee rules by scheduling its primary before Feb. 5. In response, John Edwards removed his name from the Michigan ballot, as did three other Democratic candidates -- Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and Gov. Bill Richardson. Sens. Hillary Clinton and Chris Dodd, Rep. Dennis Kucinich and former Sen. Mike Gravel stayed on.
John Edwards' decision has generated a lot of controversy, especially in Michigan -- a state that I had the honor of representing in Congress for 26 years. But it was the right decision.
Michigan is a big state, and our nominating calendar was designed to let small states go first. In the age of the multi-million dollar primary campaign, it is more important than ever to keep it that way. In small state contests, issues matter more than money, celebrity and advertisements. Voters can cut through the spin to make decisions based on who the candidates really are, and what they stand for.
I've experienced this myself. My wife, Judy, and I were still undecided after the Iowa Democratic caucuses in 2004. So we went to New Hampshire and followed the candidates around the state for a week. At town hall after town hall, we heard them speak at length about the critical issues facing our country. We watched them interact with regular Americans and respond to their problems and concerns. We developed a strong sense of who they were as people and what each of them would be like as President.
At that time, John Edwards was not the best-known candidate in the race. But he spoke from his heart about the issues no one else was speaking about -- such as poverty, and the divide between the rich and the poor that has created two Americas. Most of all, he spoke passionately, and articulated a vision for a better America that resonated deeply with Judy and me.
John Edwards didn't have the media hype and slick spin that other candidates had. If Judy and I had not had the opportunity to watch him in those town halls, we might never have discovered the principled leader that we are proud to support today.
As I travel the campaign trail with him now, I see that same process at work again. Here in New Hampshire, John Edwards has had the time to meet heroes like Celso Mena, a carpenter who was injured on the job but could not pay his medical bills because he was misclassified as an independent contractor. Celso is in a wheelchair now, but he told John Edwards that he thanked God that this had happened to him because spreading his story could prevent others from suffering the same fate.
The current calendar was constructed to let candidates spend quality time in small states like New Hampshire and meet people like Celso. It was also constructed to give key Democratic constituencies the voice they deserve. Since the last election, the DNC added Nevada and South Carolina to improve geographic balance and increase diversity by strengthening the voice of African Americans, Hispanics, and unions.
These changes made sense -- but then other states started agitating to move up too. To discourage them, all the candidates were asked to pledge not to "campaign or participate" in any state contests besides the four DNC-sanctioned ones before Feb. 5. John Edwards signed the pledge, as did all of the other Democratic candidates.
Michigan moved its primary to Jan. 15 anyway, forcing the Democratic candidates to make a painful but simple choice. As important as Michigan is, Edwards decided that allowing his name to remain on the ballot there would be participating in their election. He promised not to do that, for reasons he believes in strongly. And a promise is a promise.
Now, other candidates are trying to lawyer their way onto the ballot by quibbling over the meaning of the word "participate." Even if officials rule that staying on the ballot doesn't violate the letter of the promise, doing so clearly violates its spirit.
Michigan's primary would heavily favor the candidates with the most money and the most hype. Remaining on the ballot there would mean that their pledge to support the role of small states was nothing more than lip service. I believe that after eight years of George W. Bush, Americans are tired of double talk and ready for a leader who will play straight with them.
Michigan is a great state that has produced some of the finest Democrats in the nation, and no candidate has fought harder for the interests of the hard-working men and women of Michigan. John Edwards was laying out his proposal to revive the auto industry to Detroit audiences back in April, before any other candidate was highlighting Michigan issues on the campaign trail.
But as Bill Gardner prepares to announce a date for the New Hampshire primary that will protect its first-in-the-nation status, John Edwards and I believe that the best way to start off our nominating process is to have candidates make their case to voters in their living rooms, instead of through their television sets.
