Really Pissed Off!

The nightmare scenario for the Democrats has been the inability to establish the Presidential Nominee until the Democratic Convention in Denver! Well, it appears that the nightmare may well become a reality! The race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton has significantly tightened up as a result of the Primaries of March 4th. This was not unexpected, despite a number of the pundits, who were prematurely burying Hillary Clinton. Ohio was comfortably in her pocket and Texas was a toss-up. It fell to Hillary. What this does, however, commits both candidates and their campaigns to a wild flurry of spending, possibly up to the Democratic Convention, which will take place from August 25th through August 28th. The result may be a brokered convention, splitting the Party with only two months to campaign against John McCain.

After the disaster of two terms of the Bush Administration, a War without end and a crumbling Economy, it seemed that the Democrats would win the 2008 Presidential Election, as it was their’s to loose. With President Bush’s Approval Rating continuing to sink like the Titanic, the Democratic nominee appeared to be more than an odds on favorite to win the 2008 Presidential Election. That, no longer is the case! As I am writing this, the delegate count is Barack Obama with 1,573 and Hillary Clinton with 1,464, both needing 2,025 delegates and Super Delegates to win the nomination. There are 611 Democratic delegates left to vote between now and June 7th, when Puerto Rico casts the last ballots. If the Super Delegates remain where they are, Obama will need 452 delegates and Clinton will need 561 delegates of those remaining to vote. The only open Primaries left are Mississippi, North Carolina, Indiana, West Virginia, Montana and Puerto Rico. These are the only states where Obama can bring in Independents to vote for him. Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Guam, Oregon, Kentucky and South Dakota are closed. Up to this point, Obama has spent $36,774,374 million and Clinton has spent $19.747.246 million, in their attempt to be the Presidential nominee. They have spent this money differently, but the difference, after all the smoke has settled, comes to 109 delegates! If you want to break it down, Obama has spent on the average of $23,378.50 per delegate and Clinton has spent $13,488.56 per delegate. How much longer will it take to break the bank?

John McCain is now the anointed head of the Republican ticket and has begun to plan a National Campaign while the two Democratic candidates will be battling it out, possibly into late August. In the meantime, the Democrats continue to slug it out. If you’re old enough to remember the 1968 Presidential Election, in the wake of another unpopular War in Viet Nam, the Democrats went into the disastrous Convention in Chicago and lost the election to Richard Nixon! Although the War is not the issue between the candidates, the divisiveness is growing, which will become a greater problem once a candidate is decided upon. John McCain now has six months to conduct a national campaign, as well as raising money for the Presidential Election in the fall. The Democrats may have to wait until sometime after August 28th before they decide on their candidate, and then try to mend fences, as well as raise money to run against McCain. In the meantime, they will have squandered another million dollars, just getting to Denver!

I wish I had an answer to this dilemma, but I don’t and no one else has one as well. Once again, the Democratic Party has blown what would have been a guaranteed trip to the White House in January 2009! Hillary Clinton, after the dust has cleared, has to deal with her high negative ratings, which have remained about 48%, give or take a percentage. That alone places her candidacy in a hole as the Democratic nominee needs no only to carry the Democratic base, but cut deeply into the Independent vote. Hillary will not succeed with winning over Independent voters and the results of the primaries have clearly demonstrated this. The other factor is whether or not voters will vote for a woman for President? Polls show that there is a certain percentage who will not vote for Hillary, simply because she is a woman. Polls also show that she does not do well with the white male vote Whatever the case, Hillary has a long road to winning in November. Barack Obama has has his own weaknesses, which could cost him the election. His lack on experience cannot be over looked. His lack of substance on many of the issues has also been of concern for many voters. The last and ugliest is whether his race will become a factor? Is America ready to vote for an Afro-American for President of the United States? That question will only be answered if Barack Obama becomes the Democratic nominee. In the meantime, the Republican Party has a candidate in John McCain, who can bridge the gap between the two political parties and draw upon the Independent vote. It's just another example of "Democrats fall in love, Republicans fall in line!" All of this could have been avoided had the Democrats followed this advice: