My euphoria at the three-state sweep by Clinton last night has given way to a post-primary depression. What now?
John McCain is free to begin his national campaign for president as the Republican nominee. Obama and Clinton are still slugging it out on the state level.
My father used to say that the Democrats could screw up a free lunch--and while he was exactly the demographic the Democrats owned--he never registered to vote.
If the Democratic party doesn't figure out what to do next, we run the risk of alienating half of our constituency and handing the presidency to McCain.
Although I am a Clinton supporter, I believe it would be disingenuous of her to push to include the delegates from Michigan and Florida in her count tally. She agreed with the other candidates not to campaign in those states, and Obama wasn't even on the ballot in Michigan.
I talked with my youngest brother last night and told him I thought the only fair solution would be to schedule new votes in those two states. He responded it was too expensive.
To quote one of my mother's sayings, it would be penny wise and pound foolish NOT to allow those states to re-vote.
Why?
If we don't do that, it's likely that the decision will come down to the super delegates. No one wants to have the super delegates making the decision for the voters. If that happens, no matter which way the decision goes, half the electorate is going to be angry and disaffected.
The cost of that will be incalculable.
The longer we wait, the more expensive those re-elections in Florida and Michigan will be.
We have time now to set up new elections in late July. That would give both candidates the chance to campaign.
Otherwise, I'm afraid our internecine squabbles will hand the November election to McCain.
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3 comments:
Then again, there are a lot of Democrats like me. I voted for Hillary. But if Barack gets the nomination I'll gladly vote for him. I think the Democrats have a win/win because I really like *both* candidates. I haven't felt this way in a long time.
Gina: I absolutely agree with you. I could vote for either of them (although my preference is toward Hillary). I will vote for Obama if he is the nominated candidate.
However, Clinton won the Texas primary by going negative. I am afraid that those negative attacks will increase and polarize the two camps.
I hope it won't happen, but I'm not confident that it won't.
Thanks for commenting.
Like Gina, I'm happy with either choice. I don't like Hillary's recent attack ads (although they seem to work, which reflects badly on the American voter) but I'll certainly vote for the Democratic choice. Of course, given the Republican party's direction, I'd vote for my cat over any Republican.
If Obama and Clinton would agree to keep the debate on the issues and forgo the personal attacks, I think the remaining election process could actually be a good thing. But since negative seems to be working, I don't see that happening. Still, we can hope.
Rob Preece
Publisher, www.BooksForABuck.com
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