It's almost over
Hillary and Barack were neck and neck, one with more delegates, the other, more popular vote...but Barack Obama will win the Democratic nomination for president.
I got so sick of the 16 month long campaign -- yes, 16 months -- that I stopped watching and reading about it. What a mess. Who can blame anyone for wondering how the Democratic party can run a country if they can screw up a nominating process like that.
But--first time in eight tries (since the present primary and delegate system was established) that it didn't work all that well. Simply because the two candidates were all but neck-and-neck.
Maybe we should rethink voting by caucus and have all states vote by primary. Maybe the Iowa/NH stranglehold should be replaced by a rotating regional primaries. Maybe we should get rid of the delegate system. Maybe the party nominee should be the candidate who gets the most popular votes. And while I'm at it, maybe the electoral college should be abolished for the general election, and the winner should be the candidate receiving the most popular votes.
That off my chest, now we Democrats must turn our attention to the general election, and on beating John McCain.
And Obama still has to figure out exactly what to do with Hillary Clinton.
To have her on the ticket, or not to...that is the question.
At this point the best reason to have Clinton on the ticket is to keep a bulk of her supporters who have sworn to defect. The gain might not be worth it, when you take into account those supporters who would eventually vote for Obama anyway.
She has appeal within the party, but doesn’t do so well outside the party. If you're trying to appeal to disgusted Republicans and Independents ... there is a real possibility that Clinton will end up being a bigger drag on the ticket than an asset.
While it’s nice to think of a "dream ticket" as being unstoppable, it’s also double the baggage. Obama’s got enough baggage he’ll have to deal with on his own, and having Hillary as the VP would also result in bringing her baggage -- and Bill’s (someone give him a tranquilizer) -- along for the ride.
Even without any baggage, the Clintons could very easily upstage the top of the ticket...and that’s not good under any circumstances.
So I don’t know. At this point, I’ll live with just about anything I guess. It's time to unite together and work on beating McCain.
But whatever else happens from here on out, Barack Obama will become the first African-American to win the nomination. He has changed the course of American history. He has now opened the door to other people -- other young African- Americans and people of other ethnicities who can say if he can do it, I can do it. And that's an historic moment.
The fact that both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama now have legitimized the idea that no matter what your gender, no matter what your race, you can make it to the top of American politics. This alone is something to celebrate.
It's ironic that, when the Democratic convention is held on August 28 and Barack Obama accepts the nomination for president, 45 years ago on that actual date, a young man stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and gave his "I Have A Dream" speech. How I wish he could have lived to see this.
America with all her warts, her dark history concerning the rights of blacks and women, has indeed changed, is evolving, and still the best country in the world. As sick as we are of it, I think this whole Barack Obama/Hillary Clinton campaign has done a lot to help America's reputation around the world.
George W. Bush sometimes made me ashamed to be American...but the tide has, hopefully, turned. We should pat ourselves on the back as Americans, we are going to restore our reputation.
Now on to November...and the Reverend Wright commercials...and probably one hell of an October surprise...
