For Governor Jennifer Granholm, Michigan's primaries-- just the third in the nation-- are shaping up to be a letdown.

"Clearly we're disappointed," she says. "I'm disappointed personally that the democrats removed their names from the ballots."

Top candidates like Barack Obama and John Edwards decided not to run in Michigan because our state violated rules by moving our primary up.

"The fact that we are early now at least puts us in play-- at least we're early and more relevant than we would have been," Granholm says.

But not everyone is writing off our primaries as a disappointment.

Quite the contrary, says political expert Ed Sarpolus.

"Michigan will have a role no matter what people say," he says. "Maybe it's not the role we were hoping for, but we will have a role."

Sarpolus goes on to call Michigan's role in the primary elections "Critical. Is it the Hollywood star campaign like Iowa and New Hampshire? No. But it's critical to both sides."

For instance, Sarpolus says if Clinton doesn't win in Michigan-- she's virtually unopposed here-- that could decide the democratic candidate.

And depending on who wins New Hampshire for republicans, Michigan's primaries could make or break candidates like Mitt Romney or John McCain.

"You can't write off Michigan just because of a lack of activity-- it's gonna be a big teller of what's going to happen in November," Sarpolus says.

Granholm admittedly supports Clinton, and Sarpolus thinks Clinton's disappointing results so far could be affecting Granholm's opinion of Michigan's primaries.

But we'll soon see how vital our primaries become in the race for the White House.