On August 31, the Michigan Democratic Party announced it will choose national convention delegates at the January 15 presidential primary (the bill moving the state’s primary passed yesterday, although the Governor still hasn’t signed it). This sets up a confrontation between the Michigan Democratic Party and the Democratic National Committee, in which Michigan Democrats will be allied with Florida Democrats, against the national party rule not allowing any states except Nevada, South Carolina, Iowa and New Hampshire to choose delegates before February 5.

Meanwhile, Chris Dodd, Bill Richardson, and Joe Biden, said they will refuse to campaign in states that violate the national party bylaw, during the primary season.

In 2004, the last time Montana elected a governor, there were four candidates on the November ballot, the nominees of the Democratic, Republican, Green and Libertarian Parties. The Montana University System sponsored a gubernatorial candidate’s debate and only invited the two major party nominees. The Green Party gubernatorial candidate, Robert Kelleher, who was also an attorney, sued the University System on behalf of himself and the Libertarian nominee, Stan Jones. They did not prevail in the lower court, so they appealed to the Montana Supreme Court. That court heard the case on November 9, 2005, and ruled against the plaintiffs on March 23, 2007, although there was one dissenter. Now the case has been appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. It is Jones v Montana University System, 07-223.

State Senator Jenny Oropeza plans ask the California Assembly to pass SB 408 next week. The bill makes it illegal for anyone to circulate a statewide initiative, unless that person had been registered to vote (or had been eligible to be registered to vote) at the time of the previous election. This would make it impossible for people who had not yet been 18 years of age in the last election, or people who had moved into California since the last election, to circulate a statewide initiative.