2008 Primaries • May 6th, 2008

The Democratic Dichotomy

by Jon Tingley

The battle for the Democratic nomination continues after Obama narrowly escapes defeat in Guam by 7 votes. The fact that Guam’s four delegate votes mattered to Clinton and Obama is a telltale sign of how close this battle really is. The question Democrats should ask themselves now is: what is this prolonged battle doing to the Democratic party? This power struggle between Obama and Clinton could divide the party and lose them the election if they don’t figure out how to unite after their nominee has been chosen.

Howard Dean has said that the deciding will be done by June 3^rd, but many still question whether he has the power to make that kind of guarantee. Both Clinton and Obama have shown how dedicated they are to winning, so unless one of them suffers a huge loss soon, I don’t see this fight ending by June. While the two continue to throw punches, McCain is out recruiting more Republican voters and improving his image.

It’s hard to blame the Democrats though, both nominees are pretty evenly matched. For example, both have a hard time remembering the facts about their past. Hilary spoke in March about her experience in war, which proved to be far from the truth. Obama has made a similar mistake in addressing his relationship with good ol’ Rev. Wright. In the beginning people seemed to believe that Obama had never heard or supported Wright’s radical views, but now his assertions are becoming hard to believe. The effect of these follies is magnified in this election because it is not a fight between Republicans and Democrats, but a fight between Republicans, Obama and Clinton. The two Dems are concentrating more on battling each other than beating McCain and I’m not convinced that the Democratic party will be able to rise from the aftermath in time to win the election. According to a poll in Pennsylvania, 26 percent of Clinton supporters said if Obama won the nomination they would vote for McCain, while only 19 percent Obama backers said they would support McCain if Clinton won.

As this battle continues, the Democratic party loses ground in the eyes of the electorate. Who will win the nomination? It’s hard to tell, but unless things shape up soon, the Dems are in for a world of hurt.

Just for fun, check out Conan mocking Wright on Late Night.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 at 8:17 am and is filed under 2008 Primaries. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.