Concord – Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton said it would be foolish to take her name off Michigan’s primary ballot and sacrifice her chances against the Republican nominee.

As the only top tier Democrat remaining on Michigan ballot, Clinton is all but guaranteed to win the state’s primary. Michigan is tentatively slated to send 156 delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention, but national party officials have threatened to take away those delegates if the state persists in holding its primary on Jan. 15.

“It’s clear, this election they’re having is not going to count for anything,” Clinton said Thursday during an interview on New Hampshire Public Radio’s call-in program, “The Exchange.” “But I just personally did not want to set up a situation where the Republicans are going to be campaigning between now and whenever, and then after the nomination, we have to go in and repair the damage to be ready to win Michigan in 2008.”

Speaking in the first primary state, Clinton said she understands concerns about her refusal. Rivals Barack Obama, John Edwards, Bill Richardson and Joe Biden took their names off Michigan’s Jan. 15 primary ballot this week, and Michigan’s hope for nominating clout all but evaporated.

Clinton’s comment reflects an optimism she will win her party’s nomination to face the Republican nominee in November 2008. She said any snub to Michigan could hurt her — and all Democrats’ — chances to defeat the Republicans there.

Clinton was prompted by a caller who said, “It strikes me that this is politics as usual, where politicians say one thing and do something else.”

Clinton brushed aside the comment.

“I did not believe it was fair to just say, ’Goodbye Michigan’ and not take into account the fact we’re going to have to win Michigan if we’re going to be in the White House in January 2009,” she said.

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The Democratic presidential candidates already had pledged not to campaign in Michigan because the state had broken Democratic National Committee rules by scheduling its primary ahead of Feb. 5. The rules ban states from holding their 2008 contests before Feb. 5, except Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

The candidates are allowed to visit Michigan to raise money and can send their spouses to campaign, but they can’t run advertisements, hold rallies or do most of the other things that would help give them a leg up on their opponents.

Clinton said she wouldn’t campaign there, but isn’t about to hurt her own chances.

“If you look at the some of the states we have to win, the margins have been narrow. And it wasn’t, in my view, meaningful, but I’m not going to say there’s an absolute, total ignoring of the people in all these other states that won’t come back to haunt us if we’re not careful about it.”

An Obama spokeswoman said the issue is about character.

“Senator Obama is fulfilling the pledge all of the candidates made to protect the traditional role of New Hampshire and the other early states by withdrawing his name from the Michigan ballot,” Leslie Miller said. “When Senator Obama makes a promise, he keeps his word.”

An Edwards supporter also responded.

“When Mrs. Clinton left her name on the ballot, it seemed to me another legitimate way to analyze the situation. Clinton’s supporters wanted to bust the role of retail politics, give Mrs. Clinton the opportunity to go the big states where money could decide, not retail politics,” said state Sen. Peter Burling.

Burling said “the long-term effort of Michigan and the Clinton supporters in Michigan to displace New Hampshire and Iowa” won’t succeed, despite its best efforts.

“Having left her name on, having signed a pledge saying she would not participate, it is Mrs. Clinton’s intention to campaign in Michigan once the New Hampshire primary is over. Again, I ask the question: When you sign a pledge that says ’I will not participate,’ certainly I, as an ordinary man ... have the right to assume that ’participate’ means ’participate.’”