Relax, Democrats. Yes, the race has gotten exceedingly nasty. Here I'll present why there's no reason to worry.
Let's not pretend that running for president is a game of canasta. It’s a largely mindless political decathlon of events spanning over 24 months in this particularly silly 2007-08 season, where the issues and platforms come a distant second to the soul-crushing horse race aspects of the campaign, and half-lies are the closest we will ever get to the truth about what the candidates really feel in their hearts. As far as the never-ending horror story of this un-Democratic party primary season goes, the only thing worse than the nominee being decided by a pile of 800 party hacks, instead of the uninformed masses of primary voters they may or may not have been elected to represent, is the prospect of having the decision come down to a protracted legal battle at the convention in August.
Because neither Obama nor Clinton can technically gain the number of delegates needed to win the nomination, the mob of 800 "superdelegate" Democrats will step in and decide the outcome because they can vote however they choose. The party came up with this outrageous concept in the 1980’s specifically to go against the will of the people in case one of the establishment’s own darlings was beaten in the state primaries and caucuses by a beltway outsider. Of course, overturning the will of the voters is Clinton’s only hope to survive the race, and she is clinging onto it for dear life as she has fallen impossibly far behind in pledged delegates. Her reasoning is that superdelegates should all enter a state of hypnosis and repeat the following: "Although Obama has won more states and more delegates, only I can beat the Republicans come fall. Although Obama has won more..."
The vital role of superhacks isn’t the only morally questionable aspect of the long road to the nomination. The Clinton team is trying to seat the Florida and Michigan delegates through some brand of legal wrangling despite the fact that those states’ primaries were nullified by the party for moving their contests too early in the year without the DNC's blessing. Both campaigns agreed to the fateful arrangement beforehand. Neither candidate campaigned in those states. Obama wasn’t even on the ballot in Michigan. Of course, Clinton won the ghost ballot in both states, and her people are now questioning how DARE anyone challenge those results and disenfranchise millions of wonderful voters?
Finally: forget the issues, because they don’t matter to most of the electorate. The economy, the war in Iraq, nuclear weapons, health care, terrorism, and global warming: t-h-e-y-d-o-n-o-t-m-a-t-t-e-r. The focus has been entirely on the babble since Obama and Clinton became the front runners thanks to our penchant for the wholesale consumption of useless information, and the fact that they largely agree on the issues. With this noise about Reverend Wright and Bosnian landings in the background playing endlessly on television and in print, the nominee will emerge battered, while McCain is ostensibly taking long naps, planning future wars, raising money and traveling the world to raise his profile.
GOOD. The fact that this primary process is turning historically ugly and disgusting is an excellent sign for Democrats. That’s because it’s obvious that Obama will win the nomination, whether it is in April through a shocking, graceful Clinton exit, or in August at a chaotic convention in Denver fraught with legal challenges, food fights, and drunken super-riots. Let’s be honest. The contest was really already over in February when Obama won 11 straight primary contests, followed by the delegate win in Texas, one of Clinton's "firewall" states. The rest of this nonsense has been a charade, an overtime period after one side has already won the game. Yes, Obama may emerge with scabs and scars, perhaps even missing a tooth or two as the Clinton machine continues to hammer at him. To that I say: That which does not kill you, can only make you stronger. This is what politics is all about! Jump into that sewer, do the backstroke and enjoy it. Clinton is serving the important role of toughening Obama up for McCain- and getting his dirty laundry out early. If Obama can't get past her at this point, with a formidable lead, he does not deserve the nomination. Wooing the supers is as much a part of the game, as is winning any legal battles that may emerge and if he can't succeed at those tasks, he shouldn't be president (yet) anyway.
I don't think it will come to that. The question as to when the Obama primary contest ends, and the Obama national campaign begins, is just a matter of opinion anyway. In McCain’s mind, as well as mine, Obama is already the Democratic candidate. Unfortunately for McCain, the A.D.D.-addled media isn’t paying any attention to him yet. Which is just as well for his opponent, who simply needs to parry the jabs long enough to survive in the coming months. And the continued drama of the Democratic party arising from the bloodbath is serving the useful purposes of driving up Democratic fundraising, getting voters in all 50 states to feel they are involved in the process, and showering obscure superdelegates with their 15 minutes of national fame. Democrats will show up in droves to vote, while many Republicans will stay at home and watch the game on TV.
Mark my words: Obama’s ideal scenario is playing out. If the Dems fight a protracted battle until August, so much the better. The shorter the national battle, the better. August to November is the perfect window of time for Obama to crush McCain. The Republicans will be tougher than Hillary, because their gloves will be off all the time without any pretension of pleasantry and there will be real policy differences and real fear and hatred. Which is all good. I don’t want President Obama to take the oath of office in January until having survived some licks from the right, because they will only be a preview of what is to come once he is in power.