The Associated Press is reporting that Dennis Kucinich his bid for the Democratic nomination.

Senator Hillary Clinton: 50.74%
Senator Barack Obama: 45.15%
Senator John Edwards: 3.76%
Uncommitted: 0.3%
Congressman Dennis Kucinich: 0.05%
Senator Mike Gravel: 0%

Reporting: 97.56%

Hillary Clinton has won the Nevada Caucus

The Nevada Supreme Court has ruled that MSNBC can block Kucinich from participating in tonight’s debate.

After Senator Clinton’s upset victory in New Hampshire some online turned to the possibility of voter disenfranchisement. I have to say I was personally a little dismissive of the claim and never mentioned it on the blog. There was a great post, here, on DailyKos that went through the arguments of why the claims probably added up to nothing but hearsay and bad logic. Meanwhile I have noted that there were many flaws in the assumptions made from the polls taken before the vote, so simply pointing to the polling doesn’t provide us with a good enough reason to assume disenfranchisement.

Meanwhile also remember that the exit polling showed Clinton & Obama in a heated race. It also showed that many voters made their decision at the last minute. So the polling, which showed a percentage of the vote was undecided, does somewhat square with the vote. Also many independents turned out for John McCain, again helping people square with the polls. Again, pollsters and pundits made bad assumptions.

With all of this in mind yesterday Dennis Kucinich began publicly asking for a recount. Under New Hampshire law apparently Kucinich is entitled to a recount, but he will have to pay for it. According to the Associated Press article linked above:

Candidates who lose by 3 percentage or less are entitled to a recount for a $2,000 fee. Candidates who lose by more must pay for the full cost. Kucinich’s campaign said it was sending the $2,000 fee to start the recount.

At the end of the day it will be good to see a recount because it will help settle the matter but all evidence points to the fact that Clinton won fair and square. There is a paper trail in New Hampshire unlike other states and what has happened in the past. I mention this line of thought only because one of the candidates themselves has no brought it up, but there seems to be little evidence to point to any real big news.

The next primary is in Michigan on January 15th.

For Republicans it has been looking like a race between Senator John McCain & Governor Mitt Romney.

For Democrats Richardson, Edwards & Obama skipped the Michigan primary because of the states violation of DNC rules leaving only Hillary Clinton as a major contender who will appear on the ballot. She is joined on the ballot with Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich & Chris Dodd (who dropped out last week).

Kucinich will appear in the state to fundraise and campaign, Clinton will only send in surrogates.

“It’s just complete untruth,” she said. “I’ll speak on behalf of Senator Clinton as well. Both Senator Clinton’s and John Edwards’s health care plans cover one hundred percent of Americans and Senator Obama’s does not.”

Meanwhile her husband said of Kucinich’s advice for his supporters to Caucus for Obama if he doesn’t reach viability:

“It’s very hard to tell Iowa caucusgoers what to do, I think they’ll make up their own minds.”

If Dennis Kucinich supporters fail to reach 15% of the mass in precincts the Congressman is already letting them know who they should turn around and caucus for. The choice? Senator Barack Obama.

“This is obviously an ‘Iowa-only’ recommendation, as Sen. Obama and I are competing in the New Hampshire primary next Tuesday where I want to be the first choice of New Hampshire voters.”

“I hope Iowans will caucus for me as their first choice this Thursday, because of my singular positions on the war, on health care, and trade. This is an opportunity for people to stand up for themselves. But in those caucus locations where my support doesn’t reach the necessary threshold, I strongly encourage all of my supporters to make Barack Obama their second choice. Sen. Obama and I have one thing in common.”

In 2004 Kucinich asked his followers to caucus for John Edwards as their second choice.