Then again, maybe they are just delusional

Avi Zenilman reports that Harold Ickes says the Clinton campaign wants Michigan's uncommitted delegates to stay uncommitted.

In a conference call with reporters, Clinton Senior Adviser Harold Ickes clarified their position on Michigan -- they don't want the 55 "uncommitted" delegates to go to Obama (his name did not appear on the ballot in Michigan). ... UPDATE: Wolfson says that most -- if not -- all of the uncommitted delegates would likely go for Obama.

The issue here is that according to Michigan's delegate selection plan, "uncommitted," which received 40% of the vote, got 55 delegates.

According to the exit poll, most of the uncommitted voters favored Obama (about 70%). Almost all of the rest favored Edwards -- about 30%.

If the Clinton folks think they have any sort of legitimate claim to those 55 uncommitted delegates, they are on even more crack than I ever could have imagined. (Wolfson's update suggests there is a dose of reality somewhere in Clinton-land.)

Even if they recognize that the uncommitted delegates will go for Barack, there are a couple of explanations for why they might continue pushing for them to be formally uncommitted. First, if they are uncommitted, there is more uncertainty, extending the process. Second, if they are uncommitted, then they may think they have a stronger argument for only counting Clinton's votes in their fictitious national popular vote metric.

Whatever. If they are seriously thinking along these lines, they really are delusional.

One other point: the exit poll numbers I've cited focus on the percentage of people who voted uncommitted but say they would have voted for Edwards or Obama if their names had been on the ballot.

It's worth remembering that almost one-fifth of all people who voted for Clinton say they would have supported either Obama or Edwards had their names been on the ballot (about two-thirds of these folks would have supported Obama).

At least with Florida, their argument can be spun in such a way that it is believable. In Michigan, there's just no way to take them seriously.