I echo Scott Johnson’s bewilderment over “uncommitted’s” very committed turnout in yesterday’s Michigan primary.  This, apparently, amounted to a protest vote.  Mark Maynard looks like Mr. Prescient this morning:

The Michigan Presidential primary is this Tuesday. As most of you know, it’s been made a dreadful mess by Debbie Dingel and company, who chose to violate Democratic Party rules by moving it up, before February 5. (Party rules stipulate that only Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina can have primaries prior to that date.) If their gamble had worked, it would have admittedly been a good thing for our struggling state – the candidates would have spent a lot of time here, getting to know us, hearing our concerns, and making promises that could one day translate to actual policy. Unfortunately, however, the Democratic National Committee didn’t go for the idea. They said that, because of our blatant disregard of the established rules, they wouldn’t be allowing our Democratic delegates to vote at the national convention, essentially making us irrelevant in the process altogether. (There’s a chance that they’ll back down from this, as I understand it, but it’s by no means a given.) What’s more, Obama and Edwards, once Michigan had made its gambit, requested that their names be removed from the ballot in order to appease angered Democrats outside of Michigan. So, of the three major contenders for the Democratic nomination, only Hillary Clinton is listed.

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So, I guess it comes down to what you think the Democratic Party will do. If you think they’ll end up seating our delegates, then I can see the logic in voting “undecided.” If, however, you think that they won’t, then why not cast a vote for a Republican? From what I understand, Mitt’s most likely out of the race if he loses here in Michigan. So, your vote really could make a difference… I don’t know how I’ll vote yet, but I think I’m leaning toward “undecided.” I like the idea of using my vote strategically to fuck with the Republicans, but I just don’t think that when it came time to actually do it that I could pull the lever. I just know that if I did, Romney would be elected our next President.

I think this is good enough reason for the Clinton team to not overreact.  I don’t know what their turnout operation was like yesterday, but my guess is that they may have hoped to piggyback on the state and county Democratic organizations to do the job for them.  After all, Clinton was the “only” choice, right?

Apparently not. 

My hunch is that the GOTV operation will be much stronger in South Carolina, a state where Clinton will need to show improvement with the African-American community.  Among the “uncommitted” voters, the hardest hit for Clinton came from the African-American community.  But is this a big deal?  Ben Smith says no, while Jay Cost seems to think only maybe.  Obama has been making strides with black voters since Iowa, and if he can crack this key component to the Democratic base, he’ll have proven to be something more than a Gary Hart or Howard Dean.   

UPDATE:

H/T to TPM, it sounds like Conyers was also pushing for the “uncommitted” vote.        

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