THE NATION - Big names pull out of Michigan's primary - Clinton is the only top-tier Democrat still on the ballot as Obama, Edwards, Biden and Richardson withdraw.
What if a state held a presidential primary election and nobody came?
Michigan may be about to find out.
Half of the Democratic presidential candidates withdrew from Michigan's Jan. 15 primary Tuesday, leaving Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York as the only top-tier candidate still on the ballot and effectively ending Michigan's hopes of cutting in near the head of the primary lineup.
"We're very disappointed," said Michigan Democratic Party spokesman Jason Moon. "It's just another example of how damaging the Iowa and New Hampshire monopoly is to the nominating process."
Moon said the party had made no decision on whether to postpone the primary.
The withdrawals further roiled an already unstable primary and caucus calendar, with some states -- including New Hampshire -- still uncertain when they will vote.
Currently, the Iowa caucuses are set for Jan. 14 and the Nevada caucuses for Jan. 19. The Democratic National Committee has recommended that New Hampshire hold its primary Jan. 22, and the South Carolina primary is scheduled for Jan. 29. But all of those dates are in flux.
The state Democratic parties in Michigan and Florida decided to flout DNC rules that allowed only Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina to hold a presidential primary or caucus before Feb. 5.
Republicans are facing a similar revolt but none of the GOP candidates asked to be dropped from the Michigan ballot, said Kelly Chesney, spokeswoman for the Michigan secretary of state.
The DNC responded to the earlier primary dates by threatening to strip Michigan and Florida of their convention delegates. And most of the Democratic candidates signed a pledge promising to campaign only in the four DNC-sanctioned early contests. Florida's primary is scheduled for Jan. 29.
On Tuesday, Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois and Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson asked the Michigan secretary of state to drop their names from the ballot by Tuesday's 4 p.m. deadline.
The other four contenders -- front-runner Clinton, Sen. Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio and Sen. Mike Gravel of Alaska -- will be listed as candidates.
Kucinich issued a statement late Tuesday saying that his campaign also requested to be dropped, but Chesney said the campaign failed to include a signed statement by Kucinich, so the affidavit was rejected.
