In the first post New Hampshire test for the 2008 presidential hopefuls, the focus today is the state of Michigan, where a very familiar political name will try to keep his White House hopes alive.

For Mitt Romney, son of former Michigan Governor and unsuccessful 1968 presidential candidate George Romney, this "must-win" comes earlier than many in the Romney camp had probably ever envisioned.

Ahead in the polls for months in both Iowa and New Hampshire and with more money than his opponents, the Romney of 2008 was poised to win the initial battleground states on his way to a GOP nomination victory.

But Romney last week was forced to pull TV ads in Florida and South Carolina to focus his resources on a victory in Michigan. If he wins, it probably won't surprise me to hear political experts (and other campaigns) sneer that it was just a home state victory for Mitt.

The polls show John McCain to be the biggest threat to a Romney win in Michigan. A McCain victory would give him fresh momentum for Saturday's showdown in South Carolina.

Watch tonight how Mike Huckabee fares as well. He's back in third in the polls, not bad for evidently spending next-to-nothing in Michigan until just last week.

What Do Democrats in Michigan Do?

While Republicans in Michigan get to vote today, Democrats have a very limited presidential ballot, all because of the dustup over the timing of the primary, as the national party voted to strip the state of delegates to the presidential nominating convention.

Just before Michigan's filing deadline, some Democrats took their name off the ballot - but not all. So Democrats get to choose from Hillary Clinton, Dennis Kucinich, Chris Dodd, Mike Gravel and "Uncommitted."

Some Democratic web sites like Daily Kos are even urging Michigan Democrats to cast a ballot instead in the GOP primary for Mitt Romney, in hopes of further muddling the Republican race.

"We want Romney in, because the more Republican candidates we have fighting it out, trashing each other with negative ads and spending tons of money, the better it is for us," Kos wrote.

Supporters of John Edwards and Barack Obama though are calling on their supporters to vote "uncommitted" in hopes of spoiling any "victory" for Clinton.

"Uncommitted" only needs 15 percent of the vote in any Congressional district, or statewide in order to start getting delegates.

In fact, Michigan Congressman John Conyers lent his voice to a radio advertisement that tells Obama backers to vote "uncommitted."

All of the confusion stems from the desire of Michigan Democrats - led by Governor Jennifer Granholm and Senator Carl Levin - to make Michigan more of a player in the presidential nominating process.

Levin has long aruged that Iowa and New Hampshire get too much influence, so the answer was to move the primary up.

In Florida, it was the GOP Governor and state legislature that forced the primary into January.

While both parties leveled sanctions, in the end it was Democrats who have missed out, as their candidates have not made any campaign stops in recent months in either Michigan or Florida.