Every four years the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Convention set rules for the next presidential nomination cycle.  These rules include the dates on which state parties may take the "first determining step" toward choosing pledged delegates.  That first determining step is usually the state's primary or caucus.  Before that step, there can be no bias toward choosing any particular delegate pledged for any particular candidate.

Michigan and Florida's state Democratic Parties ignored the rules and now are unable to come up with a plan to select delegates.  In 2004, Utah faced even harder challenges than Florida or Michigan do and our Democratic Party ran an organized, efficient, popular primary that seated all our delegates at the 2004 convention in Boston.

One perennial question about a politician is whether he would back you up in a bar fight.

This Sunday we had a chance to see Governor Bill Richardson in action.  On This Week With George, Bill Richardson was asked about Don Imus' work organizing a charity for children in New Mexico.  Richardson's administration had helped make arrangements for Imus' project.

If you live under a rock you might not know that Imus recently had his radio program canceled in most (all?) markets because his tasteless and sometimes racist remarks on the air finally caught public attention.

Richardson refused to condemn Imus and reminded George about the good work Imus contributed to in New Mexico.  The governor didn't endorse any racist remarks or defend any misbehavior or even object to various stations firing Imus but he did refuse to turn on his friend for the easy sound bite.

I don't like Imus, but I do like hearing a Democrat show some loyalty to someone.  It happens far too seldom in our days.

The Utah Legislature organized a whirlwind redistricting committee these past two weeks. The final approval by a special session is pending for next week. On the assumption that we'll be facing a vote on Map L, let's take a look at who won and lost so far.

Check out lots more news about Utah and redistricting on Brian's Utah Weblog.