Friday, April 25, 2008

Ass Backwards Thinking - Except Possibly in the Long Run

Chris Wilson at Slate has an utterly ridiculous column on why Obama - not Hillary - should drop out of the race. Long term under his view, Obama wins, although the country gets fu*ked over for four more years under a McCain administration. Basically, his analysis comes to the fact that because Hillary Clinton is such a self-centered, vicious, slash and burn, nasty shrew that is willing to destory the Democrat Party , Obama should drop out. In return, Wilson maintains that Obama would be set to take the Democrats to victory in 2012 after Hillary goes down to defeat against John McCain.
Obama is supposed to take this magnanimous step even though he has won more votes, more delegates, and is more electable than the she-bitch. To me, that kind of thinking is analogous to religious denominations that maintain anti-gay policies for the sake of "unity" rather than mustering the resolve to tell the hate filled element in the pews to get a life and get their heads out of their ass. The reality is that the superdelegates and Party leaders need to get some backbone and tell Hillary it is over NOW. Period. End of discussion. But such a move would take true leadership - something the Democrat Party leaders have not shown to date. Here are some highlights:
If Clinton had the good of the Democratic Party in mind, she would have given up her bid the day after the Mississippi primary, which Obama won by 25 points. The delegate math was as dismal for her campaign then as it is now, even after Pennsylvania, and she was facing down a six-week gulf before the next election. But Hillary Clinton isn’t going to drop out. There simply isn’t a function in her assembly code for throwing in the towel.
Obama, on the other hand, is fully capable of it. And if he’s really serious about representing a new kind of politics, now is the time for him to prove it in the only meaningful way left. Moreover, were he to play it right, dropping out now nearly guarantees that he’ll be elected president in 2012. Here’s the roadmap:
In one stroke, Obama will regain his messiah creds by making the ultimate sacrifice for the good of the party. His followers will be furious. The mere mention of Clinton’s name will provoke unspeakable acts. They will abandon Clinton in numbers sufficient to hand McCain the election in November.

Losing the presidency again after eight years of Bush will ruin the Democratic Party. It will become obvious that Clinton’s decision to stay in the race was the turning point in the election. The base will turn its wrath on party leaders like Howard Dean and Nancy Pelosi, who failed to push Clinton out. Obama, as the de facto head of the party, will broker negotiations to install new leaders loyal to him.

McCain will be eminently more beatable in 2012. Demographics will continue to shift in Obama’s favor as his 14- to 17-year-old supporters come of voting age. Anyone foolish enough to challenge Obama for the nomination—and don’t rule out Clinton—will go nowhere. Obama’s utopian vision for a Democratic party unified around him will be complete.

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