Clinton In, 5 Dems Out of Mich. Primary

Presidential hopeful former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., speaks at a town hall meeting in Mount Ayr, Iowa, on Monday, Oct. 8, 2007. (AP Photo/Kevin Sanders) (Kevin Sanders - AP)

"It does not benefit any of us if we are the nominee to pull our name off the ballot and slight Michigan voters," Sevugan said.

Clinton advisers acknowledged party leaders in Iowa and New Hampshire might be irked by her refusal to pull out of Michigan. But removing her name from the ballot would be a needless insult to the state's voters _ one that could prove damaging in the general election, the advisers said.

The Biden campaign later issued a statement criticizing Clinton and Dodd, and arguing that the two campaigns "have chosen to hedge their bets, thereby throwing this process into further disarray. In doing so, they have abandoned Democrats in Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina."

In New Hampshire, Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley welcomed the developments.

"Today's turn of events only further amplifies the fact that the Michigan primary is irrelevant," Buckley said in a statement. "Our secretary of state, Bill Gardner, now has more flexibility in his scheduling decision because the Michigan event is no longer a 'similar event' to the New Hampshire primary."

As punishment for breaking the rules, the DNC has vowed to strip Michigan and Florida, which scheduled its contest on Jan. 29, of their delegates. Florida has 210 delegates, Michigan 156.

"It's yet another reason why we need to get rid of Iowa and New Hampshire going first," said Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer.

He said the state still will hold its joint Democratic-Republican presidential primary on Jan. 15 because it's state law. He declined to speculate about whether Democrats may decide to also hold a presidential caucus on Feb. 9 to officially pick a nominee from the full Democratic field and decide delegates to the Democratic National Convention.

Michigan Republican Party Chairman Saul Anuzis said the decision by the Democrats just opens Michigan to more campaigning by Republicans hoping to win the state and its electoral votes.

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Associated Press writers Nedra Pickler in Iowa and Beth Fouhy in New York contributed to this report.