[Elections 2008: The Superdelegates]
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE SUPERDELEGATES
I realize that many of you feel that you owe the Clintons your loyalty, and others are waiting to ensure that you act in the Democratic Party's best interest, but when is enough enough?
Even the most rabid Clinton supporters have to recognize by now that Hillary can't possibly secure the Democratic nomination without literally tearing the Democratic Party apart–and Hillary knows that better than anyone.
So it must be clear to everyone by now that Hillary is no longer in this race to win. Hillary's sole purpose at this point is to stay in the race as long as she can, and sling enough mud on Barack Obama to prevent him from winning in November. Then, since at McCain's age he's not expected to remain in office but one term, Hillary will still be young enough to run in 2012. I've mentioned Hillary's strategy before, but it bears repeating, since it stands as a monument to mean-spirited selfishness.
But that shouldn't surprise us, because Hillary's entire life has been centered around self-service, and what's now beginning to look like a sociopathic fixation her own ambition. Every since she entered the White House as First Lady, everything Hillary's done has been in the service of her ambition to become President of the United States. Her failed attempt to provide universal healthcare and her run for the senate was all designed to buildup her resume for the job. That explains why she's so hostile towards Barack Obama.
Throughout Bush's second term Hillary has been acting, and treated, like the president-in-waiting. In fact, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if she's already decided what color she intends to change the drapes in the Oval Office. Then here comes Barack Obama, this young upstart who has the audacity to seek her office. Initially she simply tolerated him.
Then as he became more popular, she became dismissive, but once it became clear that he might actually win, she panicked–first she tried to play on our emotions with tears, then she tried becoming gracious and sincere, and finally, when that didn't work, she morphed into who she really is, angry and mean-spirited (Who does he think he is–does he really think he can become president based on a speech? ). So make no mistake about it, this has become intensely personal to Hillary. At his point, she could care less about her supporters, the Democratic Party, or the American people–all she cares about is taking back what she has convinced herself that she's personally entitled to.
But seeing Hillary in this mode has turned out to be a fortunate opportunity for both the super-delegates, and the American people as a whole, because it has allowed us to see the chinks in her armor while she's under pressure. It has also given us the opportunity to see the flaws in her character, and how she's viewed through the eyes of her opponents.
In that regard, I never thought I'd live to see so many Republicans supporting a Clinton with such enthusiasm. Rush Limbaugh has been threatened with indictment for encouraging his conservative listeners to crossover and vote for Hillary during the Ohio primaries. That one act alone goes farther towards repudiating Hillary's repeated claims that Obama is inexperience and can't win than anything that anyone can possibly say. Obama's so-called "inexperience" notwithstanding, the Republicans are essentially saying, "Please send us Hillary."
The reason for that is simple. The Republicans see a deeply flawed candidate, and they realize that Hillary's nomination represents the Republican Party's only chance of returning from the dead. They know that the conservatives' hatred of the Clintons is so pervasive that it represents their one and only chance of re-energizing their base. They also know that if Hillary does manage to get the nomination, it can only happen at the expense of an irreparable rift in the Democratic Party–a rift that may very well completely destroy the party as we know it.
On the other hand, Obama is a Republican nightmare--he's captured the imagination of many young Republicans who were too young to remember the feeling of optimism during the Kennedy era, yet, are attracted to the excitement surrounding Obama. The excitement of their young, Democratic peers is new to them, and they like it.
At the same time, Obama has also reconnected many older Republicans with their youth–a time when they were young, full of enthusiasm, and fully supported the optimism that engulfed the nation under John Kennedy. These older Republicans remember Camelot, and the opportunity to revisit the optimism of their youth excites their soul.
Thus, the Republican leadership realizes that if Obama becomes the nominee, they don't have a chance. They know that they'll not only lose the November election, but it will usher in a new era in the body politic that will render the Republican Party dead in the water for years, and maybe even decades to come. Republican success is based on anger and dissent, and as is clearly apparent even within the Democratic Party, Hillary's very nature would feed that beast in spades. But Obama's strong suit is consensus, and bringing the country together, so the Republican Party would have to re-assess their entire approach to the political process.
So it seems that the future of this nation has been dropped right in the lap of the superdelegates, but your decision should be relatively easy. If you indulge the self-serving whims of Hillary Clinton, you're surely going to destroy the Democratic Party, since the only way that you can give her the nomination is to ignore the wishes of the majority of the Democratic and Independent voters across this land–including the many young Democrats who have gotten involved in the political process for the first time in response to Senator Obama.
If you do that, Democrats and many Independents will stay away from the polls in droves, resulting in Democratic officeholders all over this country being turned out of office–including many of you.
So in this case, justice, common sense, and your own self-interest has converged to suggest the right thing to do-- simply declare for Obama and tell Hillary to get a grip on reality–and the sooner you do it, the better off the nation will be.
