'Weird' Michigan primary under way

DETROIT, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Polls in Michigan opened Tuesday for a presidential primary in which only one major Democrat was listed on the ballot compared with three Republicans.

The state's vote is all but meaningless as both parties penalized the state and its attendance at the national convention for having the primary before Feb. 5, in what the Detroit Free Press called "one of Michigan's weirdest and wildest presidential primary seasons."

For the Democrats, only Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., opted to have her name on the ballot while her two main opponents, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., chose to stay away in a show of solidarity with the national party. Their supporters have an option of voting "Uncommitted."

Three Republicans campaigned in the state Monday: former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

All three visited the North American International Auto Show Monday and Romney spoke at the Detroit Economic Club where he pledged a five-fold increase in federal research on automotive technologies, the Detroit News said.