Well, Where Are We Now?

It's another morning after. I'm beginning to get a Wednesday-After-A-Primary hangover. I can't imagine how the candidates feel.

Last night it was too close to call for a while. Nothing new about that! Hillary said a win is a win is a win and there's no pulling back if she wins. Bill, meanwhile, was working on foot and mouth technique. And Barack was wondering why things won't just work out so he can get some rest.

So around 9:00 pm Pennsylvania time Hillary was declared the winner. At that point it was yet to be determined by how much and what that would mean. As I pondered that question last evening is when I truly realized I didn't like the hangover this long drawn out single primary has given me.

• I don't like it because it is all so media driven.


• I don't like it because it has gotten so personal.


• I don't like it because it has gotten so negative.


• I don't like it because I don't like to see a former President being so obnoxious.


• I don't like it because under much of it are the old problems of racism and sexism.

(No I don't believe Bill is a racist nor Obama a sexist. It is the nature of the election, however, that those issues are under far too much of what people are concerned about.)

• I don't like it because the issues about which many people feel so deeply are being ignored for superficial and manufactured issues. Experience? Not an issue, not really. Rev. Wright and flag pins and over-the-hill former Weathermen? Forget it.

Let's get serious and talk about the war and the economy and the environment. Let's get even more serious and talk about the incredible erosion of freedom and civil rights in a terrorized country- terrorized not by terrorists but by the fear of terrorists and inflamed by demagogues.

Which, somewhat to my surprise, although it fits his character, is what Obama did in his speech. A very gracious speech that congratulated Clinton on her win. But here was a candidate showing his self-confidence (found in the delegate numbers, of course) ready to fight the next election fight against McCain and trying to show he has The Stuff.

Clinton's speech was also good. Regardless of who wins, I believe that she would be a good president and we, as a nation will be safer than we have been. She had class last night, but as one of the CNN commentators noted, that will probably disappear in a couple days as she goes back on the attack.

She did win that double digit margin though. Which raises the question for some- Why can't Obama bring this to a close? Unfortunately, no matter how good or great a speaker he is, no matter how much class he continues to exude, no matter that the even more wealthy Clinton can accuse him of elitism (still beyond my understanding!) he is at the mercy of many factors over which he is completely powerless.

The scariest thing about the whole race remains for me the dogged tenacity of Clinton that almost has an entitlement attitude about it. It will not (as a die-hard Democrat) prevent me from voting for her in the fall if she should steal win the nomination, but it will probably lose the election for the Democrats. For them to win, Obama has to be the nominee and Hillary absolutely, positively MUST work to get her votes in the blue-collar, white middle class to go out and support him. It is not an option. Her continuing to run makes that less and less likely. Unfortunately.

Anyway, we have two weeks until North Carolina and Indiana. Will that finally bring an end to the fight? Don't listen to any of the pundits. Just hope that it does.

An interesting sidebar from the McCain campaign then today as the candidate supposedly has asked the North Carolina GOP to pull an ad that used Obama's pastor against two democrats in NC who support Obama. Last I heard the NC GOP is saying "No!" Raises a question, that since McCain is in some ways not the Republican extremism and may actually mean what he says in this case, what kind of impact will he be able to have on the old pols who want to run the dirty, in the mud campaign?

Part of McCain's quote:

I don't know why they do it. Obviously, I don't control them, but I'm making it very clear, as I have a couple of times in the past, that there's no place for that kind of campaigning, and the American people don't want it....

[W]e need not engage in political tactics that only seek to divide the American people.