The Michigan Democratic Party will hold congressional district conventions on Saturday, April 19, at 10 am, to choose delegates to the national convention. The party will choose 47 Clinton delegates and 36 “uncommitted” delegates (who will really be Obama delegates). This ratio is determined by the results of the January 15, 2008 presidential primary, in which the names on the ballot were Clinton, Kucinich, Dodd, Gravel, and “uncommitted.” Clinton won the primary, but “uncommitted” was a strong second. The Michigan Democratic Party will choose 45 more delegates at a meeting of the State Central Committee on May 17. There is no guarantee that these delegates will be seated, since the Michigan primary was so early that it violated party rules.

The Michigan Democratic Party is thus acting similarly to the Florida Democratic Party, which already chose delegates even though the Florida delegates also face the danger of not being seated. Since the national party did agree to make hotel reservations for the Florida delegates, presumably the national party will treat the Michigan delegates similarly. Thanks to Thomas Jones for this news.