The situation with MI and FL is a real test of the candidates' leadership and commitment to working people - most of whom had no idea what was going on with the DNC rules.

In my assessment, Barack Obama is failing this test.

I'm a Michigan voter and Hillary supporter. I want to start out by accepting my share of the responsibility for the mess we're all in. However, I believe we democrats are now all in this together. It's breaking my heart to see so many people focusing their response to our situation on rules - not acknowledging how desperate Michigan is or how correct we were in our reasons for peaceful protest.

Michigan engaged in naughty, but very democratic behavior in moving its primary: civil disobedience. This is what's being lost.

Michigan was looking at the early four states and thinking, "Hey! None of those guys look like me!" And they didn't. IA, NH, NV, SC - none of those states looked anything like a big industrial state. The priorities of those states are very different from ours.

We were thinking, "Those early states will set the tone, identify who has "momentum" and determine who gets the money!" This is true - keep in mind that after IA, everyone was saying that if Senator Obama won NH, he could clinch the nomination.

We were thinking about our homes and our kids. Michigan needs a strong democrat in the white house, arguably more than any other state. Unemployment here is by far higher than anywhere else. We were the only state with statistically significant job losses last year - 78k jobs - while 22 states had statistically significant increases. And the news keeps coming - we're constantly hearing about jobs that will be leaving in a year or two. In my Dearborn neighborhood, I see so many stickered doors and for sale signs - new ones every day.

This is what we were thinking about in our "race to be first". It wasn't about vanity. It wasn't about attention...wait - yes it was. It was an absolutely desperate plea for some attention. Michigan was naughty. We were also right. Most importantly, though, we were and are in need.

I mentioned I'm a Hillary supporter, ironically because of a speech she gave that inspired me when I was a young voter. However, on January 1, Obama did seem like a mighty fine second. Unfortunately, his language around the topic of MI & FL has me so angry. I was so dismayed to hear him use this topic to bash Hillary for "saying and doing anything to get elected," rather than to acknowledge the struggles that drove our act of desperation.

I understand why the consequences were developed, and the concerns about any message disregarding them might send. However, I taught for a while, and I learned quickly that consequences dealt with empathy are the most effective. They allow people to feel OK about taking responsibility for their actions - they increase the likelihood of future compliance while building trust & community. Consequences dealt with indifference or spite result in the kind of mess we're in now. Anger, anger, and a bit more anger - with a lot of talk about things not being fair.

It might be true that neither candidate is to blame, but both candidates are running to be our leaders. I don't think either candidate can be trusted to lead if they don't take a leadership role in resolving this issue. Leaving it up to the DNC and states, who clearly haven't been able to solve it, shows at best a lack of leadership, and at worst an attempt to dismiss voters for political gain.

I think it is a real test of the candidates' commitment to working people - most of whom had no idea what was going on with the state and national comities until it was too late. By choosing to repeatedly site the rules and defer to the DNC and now opposing Michigan's "firehouse" primary, rather than using his incredible fund raising skills to help cover the cost of a re-vote, Senator Obama seems to be failing that test.