The other reality is, under the rules that exist, the very important factor of collecting pledged delegates has been won so far by Barack Obama. No one has railed against this nominating process more than me, particularly its blatantly anti-democratic nature. But it is what it is and it is an important consideration for perceiving who the legitimate nominee should be. Senator Clinton must do better in this unfair and disenfranchising process. She can not accept getting blown out in delegate counts in states like Mississippi and North Carolina.
By the same token, it is not the be all and end all that some want to make it. Its undemocratic and unfair nature have been utterly exposed, most recently in BOTH Texas and Ohio, where the delegate apportionment does not reflect the will of the people or the votes of the people. It simply does not present an accurate reflection of the "will of the people," and certainly not the will of Democratic voters. I have always stressed that the best reflection of the will of the people is the popular vote. So the outrage from some quarters that Clinton, and some of us, are not respecting the pledged delegate count and thus, the will if the people, is utterly specious.
The pledged delegate system is also marred by the egregious and idiotic actions of the DNC in totally stripping Florida and Michigan of its delegates. I am looking at you Howard Dean and Donna Brazile (who at this point needs to be disqualified from commenting on this race. She is hopelessly compromised.) In the case of Florida in particular, the DNC abused and broke its own rules. But now they have a chance to make this right. The DNC and the Florida and Michigan Democratic parties now have a chance to find a solution for the mess they have made. My solution is here.
Is the continuation of this race a bad thing? Not necessarily. Neither Hillary Clinton nor Barack Obama have answered all the questions a nominee must answer before we can feel confident of his or her chances in November. Barack Obama has yet to show he can win a big key contested state that we will need in November. The naysaying ostriches want to pretend this does not matter. Sorry, it does.
The heart of Obama's problem is he has not been able to demonstrate an ability to appeal to white women, working class whites, seniors and Latinos. These are key constituencies in November any Democratic nominee must have to win in November. Having some number of Republicans and Independents cross over to vote for you in a primary or caucus is great, but how much of that will be repeatable in November? How much will it matter that you won a primary or caucus in Utah, North Dakota and Idaho? The questions that first surfaced on Super Tuesday about Obama's ability to win big contested states remains unresolved.
And Hillary Clinton has not shown any ability to compete in the wine class track of voters. And while normally one would never have imagined the Clintons having trouble with African Americans, the stark reality NOW is that this nominating process has weakened Hillary Clinton's appeal with African Americans. This matters. A lot.
But in the end, one of these two flawed (as all of them are) candidates will be our nominee. And lost in all of this hullabaloo is the most important thing the nominee will do - compete with John McCain in November. How best to judge who that candidate will be? I will be looking at that issue the most and I believe Steve Soto is on to something when he writes:
What if [Hillary Clinton] instead starts attacking McCain and making the case that she is better able to run as a true Democrat against McCain’s strengths and weaknesses than Obama can? What if she draws the contrast with Obama not with personal or character attacks, but with direct arguments that she is a better advocate for progressive causes and concerns against McCain on issues such as the economy, health care, protecting Social Security, tax fairness, the Supreme Court, energy independence, and the environment? In other words, what if she runs more as a Democrat than he does?
I think Steve's advice is sound, but not just for Clinton, but for Obama as well. Let's let the candidates demonstrate who the best candidate to run against McCain is BY RUNNING AGAINST JOHN McCAIN AND THE GOP NOW! Don't just tell us you would be better against McCain and the Republican Party. Show us!
Speaking for me, that is what I will be watching for and praising to the heavens.
