Clinton supporters rally in Southfield

By KATHLEEN GRAY

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Even though Sen. Hillary Clinton is the only top tier candidate on the Democratic ballot, her supporters are taking nothing for granted.

About 150 of them gathered in a steamy hotel conference room in Southfield to remind voters that they need to cast their ballots for the New York senator.

“As we’ve gone through tough times in Michigan, Hillary has become the co-chair of the manufacturing caucus in the Senate,” said U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow. “So she gets us, she understands us.”

Gov. Jennifer Granholm, in a poke at Sen. Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards who withdrew their names from Michigan’s ballot, said it’s important to reward the candidate who stayed committed to Michigan.

“All the Democrats signed that darned pledge not to campaign in Michigan,” Granholm said. “But it was Hillary who said she wasn’t going to abandon Michigan. She said ‘I’m going to keep my name on the ballot.’”

Obama and Edwards withdrew their names after Michigan moved its primary election to Jan. 15 in violation of national Democratic Party rules. Supporters of those two candidates can choose to vote “uncommitted.”

Clinton supporters were drumming up support to make sure that their candidate doesn’t end up with an embarrassing showing in Michigan, such as getting fewer votes than “uncommitted.”

That shouldn’t be a problem, said Xavier Lopez-Ayala, a 20-year-old sophomore at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids.

“I can’t tell you how many moderate Republican women ask me for bumper stickers and buttons,” he said. “They’re not going to put them on their car because their husbands won’t let them, but in the privacy of the voting booth, they’re going to vote for Hillary.”