My precinct in the People’s Republic of Ann Arbor is crazily Democratic–almost 80% Dem performance. When I went to vote at around 3:45, I was around the 279th person to vote, counting absentee ballots. And from the looks of things, about two thirds of those people cast a vote in the Democratic primary. Now, the fact that we had so many people turn out, two-thirds of whom voted in a meaningless election; that’s not a surprise (high Dem performance high turnout, that’s us!). It suggests there might be a chunk of "uncommitteds" after all–or even a surge for Kooch, who broke the rules and did a rally at UM yesterday (though it looks like other heavily Democratic parts of the state, and even some Republican ones, have very low turnout today). The number also suggests that roughly 10% of my precinct’s voters crossed over to vote in the Republican primary, or almost a third of those who voted Republican in my little corner of the Clusterfuck.
Meanwhile, from other little corners of the Clusterfuck that is MI’s primary, Michigan Messenger reported that McCain was a little bit shaky when greeting voters this morning, only to have McCain staffers freak out when they realized McCain’s health might become a campaign issue.
John McCain’s hands were shaking this morning as he greeted people (including this reporter) during a campaign stop at the Great Lakes Maritime Academy in Traverse City, raising questions as to whether the candidate is in good health.
[snip]
Campaign spokesman Brian Rogers, asked whether McCain is experiencing any health problems, said that the candidate is in fine health and "looking forward to a strong finish in Michigan today."
But moments later, another campaign worker called this reporter to follow up on the inquiry and asked repeatedly if Michigan Messenger was going to publish a story saying that McCain has health problems. The woman caller quickly became aggressive, asking to talk to an MM editor, suggesting McCain was shaking because he had come in from the cold (not the case) and saying she could send medical records to prove McCain’s clean bill of health. When asked for her name, she refused to give it.
Now, I frankly don’t put too much weight on one shaky campaign appearance–I mean, I’d be shaky if I had to keep the schedule these guys are keeping, and I’m not 71. That said, I have been wondering whether McCain might exhibit health issues–he has looked like shit for most of the last eight months and he has as much as said he would only serve one term if elected.
MI’s righty blogosphere seems more concerned about getting petition signatures to make Michigan–MICHIGAN–a right to work state than they do about their presidential candidates, which I find telling.
And that’s it–this Clusterfuck may make or break the Republican’s chance to have a long drawn out primary … and no one seems to care.
Update: I forgot to mention the most, um, interesting thing that happened in today’s Clusterfuck fun.
"I have opponents in this race who do not want to change the Constitution," Huckabee told a Michigan audience on Monday. "But I believe it’s a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living god. And that’s what we need to do — to amend the Constitution so it’s in God’s standards rather than try to change God’s standards so it lines up with some contemporary view."
See, no one may care about our Clusterfuck. But while no one is looking, Huck is working under the radar to change America into a theocracy.