Official: Obama camp opposes Mich. do-over

LANSING, Mich., March 7 (UPI) -- A plan to hold a second Democratic primary in Michigan is drawing opposition from presidential hopeful Barack Obama's campaign, a party leader said.

The plan, by Gov. Jennifer Granholm, calls for a "firehouse primary," which is more expansive than a party caucus but less than a traditional primary election, to give voters as a chance to choose between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, The Detroit News reported Friday.

"Obama opposes the redo as proposed by the governor and unless we can get the two campaigns to agree on something it's not going to happen," said State Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer, adding that he doesn't know why the Obama campaign opposes Granholm's idea.

Michigan was stripped of its delegates after the state moved its primary too early in violation of Democratic National Committee rules.

State Sen. Tupac Hunter, D-Detroit, told the newspaper that the notion of a do-over election in the Great Lakes State didn't emerge until this week after Clinton won primaries in Ohio and Texas, the newspaper said.

"All of a sudden, a do-over election was seen as a chance for Senator Clinton to add Michigan and Florida delegates" to her total, Hunter said. "We have to be very careful not to change the rules mid-stream just to benefit the other campaign."