I keep hearing little murmers (heart murmers?) that to ensure 16 years of Democratic control of the executive branch, we should nominate Hillary, this election and Obama eight years, hence, because... get this... Hillary will be too old to run in eight years.
Here's the fun part: In eight years, Hillary will be about the same age McCain is now... so, if she'll be too old to run and serve in eight years, McCain is clearly too old to run and serve, NOW.
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This morning, while surfing the TV dial, trying to get some local weather and news, I happened across the tail end of a morning show segment in which Tim Russert was just wrapping up an explanation of how it's likely, regardless of who wins the Democratic nomination, that the general election could end in an electorate tie and the Presidency be decided by Congress.
Uh... Tim... I think you're VASTLY over-estimating how well McCain's going to fare in November. To get out the vote, he not only has to win over large swaths of the "middle" and sway some Dems to his side, he has to win over the voters in his OWN party, that SHOULD be, but aren't, guaranteed votes! ...And with this weird "bio" tour of his, he's boring even his own core constuency into a group coma. Yeah... nothing like a good nap to fire up the base!
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Another little murmer from the grass... should Hillary drop out?
My primary has passed. I didn't vote for either Hillary or Obama... and I didn't abstain... I voted for someone else, whose idea of which direction is "forward" came closest to my own. This was the first primary in a long time, that my party's nomination wasn't decided before I got a chance to weigh in. The same thing that makes me a Democrat, makes that very important to me... and it was SUCH a good feeling to participate in the selection, again, after all this time.
We're hearing reports from voters in states who, if Hillary stays in the race, will get to participate for the first and possibly only time in their lives. I want that for them, so I hope Hillary stays in to the bitter end (or that if things swing very heavily to her favor in the remaining states, that Barack stays in 'til the bitter end.) While I don't love the idea of super delegates breaking a statistical tie -- it's the tie-breaker that's been written into procedure for a long time.
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Finally... a couple of rumblings that almost tickle me, because they come from a complete lack of knowledge about who's who, politically.
First -- the whole race/gender thing with Barack and Hillary. Yes, it's historic that whichever gets our nod will be a groundbreaking first. BUT, does race or gender affect November? NO. As I've said, before, anyone for whom that's a factor at all, much less a deciding factor won't vote for ANY Democrat, regardless of race or gender.
Second -- I keep hearing that the Dems are bitterly divided between Barack and Hillary and that this signals a self-destructive rift in the Democrat party that could result in the death of the party.
Uh... nope.
The Democrat party is, by the nature of its members, a diverse party of diverse ideas, vision, motivation, focus, skills, etc. We're at our best, strongest and most unified when we DON'T agree 100% on everything.
We have taken a LOT of flack (mostly from lock-stepping Republicans hoping to convince the middle we're floundering as a party) for failing to have and deliver a "core message" -- but we wouldn't be Democrats if we DID have a so-called core message. We don't run our party for office, individuals run on our party's ticket. Whether at the polls or in Congress, etc. we don't vote as a unified block, we decide and vote as individuals.
We are a party of individuals.
