Al Gore, Saviour?
Normally when one calls on Al Gore to save people from a meltdown, it's the planet they're talking about, but Charles Hurt apparently thinks his powers are required to save his party from the same.
IF AL GORE can pull himself away from saving the planet long enough, he might want to consider rescuing the Democratic Party from the clutches of utter self-destruction.
. . .
Hillary Rodham Clinton has made it clear she won't quit and no one expects Barack Obama to exit - and so on to the Denver party convention they go, viciously attacking one another all the way.
Forget the red phone for a national-security crisis. Where is the red phone for a political party trying to destroy itself?
There are a number of problems with this scenario, not the least of which is the fact that endorsements haven't carried that much weight either way this year. The biggest thing though, is that the Democratic race needs to continue until someone wins it. Whether or not the math looks bad for Hillary, her victories on Tuesday means she is still competitive, and it will do far more damage to the party if either candidate is forced out by the maneuverings of the big dogs of the party before the issue appears close to settled.
Yes, I don't think Hillary has much of a chance at catching Obama, and yes, I really don't like some of her campaign rhetoric, particularly that where she compares McCain favourably to her fellow Democrat. But she needs to be beaten in the race, not in the cloakrooms of the "old boy's club".
I have to point out this great post by shamanic:
. . . Obama had a terrible week leading up to yesterday's votes. And this is where we see the mettle of the man: if he's able to right the ship and regain his footing, then the odds favor him and the Democratic Party in November. If he goes into a tailspin, having finally been bitten by real, stinging politics, then he has no business being the nominee.
So this is where we find out whether he deserves it, kids. And this is where he's going to prove worthy or not of the faith that I and many others have put in him in our efforts to make him the party's standard bearer this year. And if he can't take this licking and keep on ticking, he's not the guy.
That echoes my feeling, and Obama is going to have lots of opportunities to prove himself now.
Clinton's campaign threw everything including the kitchen sink at Obama, joined in and amplified McCain's attacks, and had the help of a foreign government to hold on to her leads in Ohio and Texas. I rather expect things to get even nastier in the next two months, on all fronts.
The Republicans can do the math just as well as Democrats, and they still see Obama as their likely opponent. Michael Gerson provides some proof of that with his column yesterday:
In the seesaw Democratic primary race, Republicans generally are rooting for confusion, which means rooting for Hillary Clinton -- who now has some political momentum after last night's victories in Ohio and Texas but little realistic chance of taking a lead in delegates.
It is the Republican dream: a tenacious, buoyant, well-funded challenger to Barack Obama who is also politically doomed -- and incapable of admitting she is doomed.
So now Clinton herself is the most effective agent of the vast right-wing conspiracy -- proving just how devious and subtle that conspiracy really is.
He then sets up and knocks down a half dozen strawmen based on a purposeful misinterpretation of Obama's foreign policy statement about negotiating with enemies without even a passing mention of Hillary. Add to that the nutroots going giddy yesterday with another story they could use to smear Obama as the "terrorists' choice for president". Their target is clear.
My guess is that by the time Pennsylvania holds it primary, nobody will have to ask if Obama is tough enough to take on the Republicans.
