Published: March 20, 2008 09:41 am         

Clinton faces frustrated Mich. voters

DETROIT (AP) -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday faced a crowd of Michigan voters clearly frustrated by Democratic Party wrangling that has put them at risk of having no say in who will be the party's nominee.

"I feel as if, as a Michigan voter, I am being disenfranchised," said Carol James, who voted in the January primary but declined to say which candidate she picked. The 51-year-old Troy resident held a sign that read, "Michigan wants our votes counted."

James considers herself a Democrat but said that may change that because the Democratic National Committee has stripped Michigan of its Democratic National Convention delegates for moving up its primary to Jan. 15. State Democratic leaders are trying to find another way to get the delegates seated, including possibly holding a do-over primary on June 3.

"I am here for one simple reason: To make sure Michigan's votes are counted," Clinton told the crowd. "You made it abundantly clear that you wanted your voices to be heard and your votes to be counted."

Despite her visit, chances that the Michigan Legislature would pass a bill setting up a June 3 primary run by local clerks but paid for by private Democratic donors visibly dropped when the Republican-controlled state Senate left for the day without taking up the legislation.