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I couldn't disagree more. This endless back and forth is practically handing the Presidency to McCain.
Ultimately, you aren't seeing healthy debate within the Party - you're seeing the formation of two very dedicated camps on either side which may not have much crossover when all is said and done.
Obama's supporters see Hillary as old news and more of the same, and include moderates who may vote Republican, young people who are getting energized and becoming part of the process purely for Obama, and wealthy whites who have the money to support a general election.
Hillary's supporters see Obama as inexperienced and not competent enough for the position, tend to be blue-collar Americans, and more and more seem to be coming from the Hispanic population.
Explain to me why either of these groups of people are going to jump ship to the other candidate depending on how things turn out?
Furthermore, where do we go from here?
1) Obama has no choice but to go negative now. Dirty campaigns don't help anyone. Now both Hillary AND Obama are going to be making a laundry list of attacks for McCain to just pick up and throw at whoever wins.
2) Barring some Act of God, Hillary is not going to catch up to Obama in terms of pledged delegates. Look at last night...she "won" Texas but only received 4 more pledged delegates than Obama as of the most recent totals, and I don't believe the caucuses, where Obama tends to win, have even reported their results yet.
As of right now, Obama has actually INCREASED his lead in pledged delegates even though he "lost" three of four contests last night!
So, it looks more and more like the only way Hillary is walking away with the nomination is through smoke-filled-room political chicanery at a brokered convention. Doing so means alienating all the young voters campaigning behind Obama, irritating the independents who voted for Obama, and generally weakening the Party as a whole.
If Hillary wins the nomination, you can kiss all the moderates and independents goodbye. She's beginning with a weakened voter base to begin with. They're all going to vote for McCain.
If Obama wins the nomination, Hillary will have laid into him so hard that he'll be depleted for a general election with McCain, who will have had the advantage of months of a Republican Party in lock-step behind him, getting ready for the battle of the general election.
Take a look at the most recent polls - Obama has a lead on McCain in a general election, whereas Hillary is in a dead heat. More and more Obama is looking more electable...and Hillary can only run by alienating a large portion of the voting base which supported her current opponent.
So why is Hillary still running?
Is this really about what she thinks is best for the American people anymore, or is it about her own lust for power? Is this really about putting forth the best Democratic candidate for the general election, or is it more typical Clinton slick political nonsense?
I'm a registered independent who tends to vote Democrat...and I would vote for Obama over McCain, but McCain over Hillary. The way she is dragging this Democratic primary into the mud disgusts me. She isn't winning votes by putting forth her own plans and resting on her own personality and experience, she's winning votes by attacking Obama and mocking the spirit he seems to be kindling among people.
That's just typical political bullshit, and sort of validates everything Obama's been saying. It's business as usual, and that's been getting us nowhere for almost two decades.
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