The Bailey Blog

Deal or No Deal is coming to Michigan’s Capitol. Or maybe it will be The Price is Right.

Maybe it’s going to have more of an Amazing Race flair – or the knock-down drag out tempo of Survivor.

The $64,000 Question is all about whether the Democrats will hold another primary election in Michigan.

Back in January, both parties thought moving Michigan’s primary to early January would provide a Wheel of Fortune for the Great Lakes State. Turns out they were wrong and we’re just The Biggest Loser. Unless you count Florida, but then we all know how well Florida does with counting.

In case you haven’t heard, Democratic Party officials, political leaders and union bosses have decided that Michigan Democrats should get a mulligan – they want to throw out the results of the Jan. 15 primary and hold another one on June 3.

Here’s the rub: they need the approval of the state Legislature but they only control the House while the Republicans control the Senate.

This could be interesting to watch. Of course, there’s also an ancient Chinese curse that says, “May you live in interesting times.”

A few hurdles have to be jumped to make the June 3 primary happen – and by saying “hurdles” I’m being politely optimistic.

First, Democrats have to raise between $10 million and $12 million to pay for another election because the state taxpayers don’t want to foot the bill. New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine and Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell apparently are willing to help raise money. So, let’s say they raise enough private funds to run a public election – ok, on to the second hurdle.

The Legislature must then draft legislation that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will agree to. Well, gee, that shouldn’t be too hard, considering how well their two camps have gotten along this election cycle, right?

The third hurdle is that once the legislation is drafted, it has to be approved by the state Legislature — that bastion of cooperation we’ve all seen handle things like the state’s main business tax and the state budget with aplomb. (Here’s where the Deal or No Deal and The Price is Right analogies kick in – get it?)

And, finally, we reach the fourth hurdle: approval of a delegate selection process by the National Democratic Party. That shouldn’t be too hard. Unless of course they don’t like something about the process and decide that the Michigan delegates shouldn’t be seated at the convention as a form of punishment. But, they wouldn’t ever do that, would they?

Cue the theme from Jeopardy…