Michigan Should Stick With February 9th

Yesterday a judge ruled against Michigan moving their primary to January 15th. Michigan is considering January 5th or 12th or to their original date of February 9th.

I think Michigan should stick with their original date of February 9th because this would give the state the most influence in the nominating process. When they first decided to move up their primary date, the candidates pledged to not campaign in Michigan and all the candidates except Clinton, Dodd, and Kucinich took their names off the ballot. This won't change if Michigan decides to go on January 5th or 12th. That leaves February 9th.

If Michigan held their contest on February 9th they could be the ones who decide who the nominee. Now if Hillary Clinton wins Iowa, the nomination is pretty much locked up. However, it is entirely possible that someone else wins Iowa and Hillary holds onto New Hampshire, the Iowa winner takes Nevada and Hillary wins South Carolina. If 3 or 4 candidates are still competitive in the race on February 5th, the chances of the candidates each winning a couple states is high. That would leave Michigan (and Nebraska and Louisiana) on February 9th to maybe tip the scales one way or another to the eventual winner.

Michigan would be smart to move back to February 9th and hope for competitive contests in the early states.