There's another diary on the rec list suggesting that an Obama loss is tantamount to a long-term victory based on certain assumptions regarding demographics and a belief that these changes would lock in a generation for many years. There is some truth to that, but the argument is one of not being able to see the forest for the trees.
Simply put, we cannot afford a McCain win in November.
This has nothing to do with who wins our nomination; I've found the Clinton campaign to be inept and prone to use the most offensive tactics. I prefer Obama for a number of reasons, but he needs to change his tone and lock in support from Democrats of the kind who voted in overwhelming margins for Hillary in Pennsylvania. Neither candidate is perfect, but each is infinitely preferable to McCain. Our rallying cry this fall ought to be the one lobbed at FDR in 1940: "No third term."
The challenges facing this nation are immense and a continuation of the same Republican policies of the past 27 years would be a disaster.
Let's take a look at what's at stake -- and this is a partial list:
Ending an elective war that undermines our military and diplomatic position around the world that was instigated under false pretenses.
Dealing with an economy that is teetering on the brink of a severe recession.
Ending the most massive deficit in US history.
Reforming a greed-based health care system that stands alone as an anachronism in the developed world and causes thousands of needless deaths each year.
Facing up to the inconvenient truths about global warming and the unsustainability of our petroleum-based economy and developing a plan to deal with these issues.
Stopping a wealth transfer to the already well-off that has turned this nation into a society of haves and have-nots that imperils the very existence of the middle class.
Investing in a public infrastructure that is crumbling due to neglect.
Reforming a broken political system that ignores the needs of the many at the expense of special interests.
Stopping the Supreme Court and the rest of the Federal judiciary from becoming a bastion of right-wing ideology that will further erode the Bill of Rights.
Reforming a "justice" system that leads our nation to have 25% of the global population of people in jail or prison.
Reforming an educational system that is failing to educate our future workforce for the jobs of the future and which is becoming rapidly unaffordable for many. In fact, in many places, it fails to educate much at all.
I can go on, but I think you get the point (my apologies to those whose pet issues were omitted).
The Bush Administration has utterly failed to address any of these issues in a meaningful way. In fact, they have created many of these problems.
Anyone who thinks we somehow "win" even if we lose is simply wrong. We cannot afford 4 years of more of the same. We're approaching a tipping point where these problems will become intractable and beyond solution.
The rough campaign has, I think, distracted us from the simple fact that we have to win this fall. This goes beyond party -- we are fighting for the future of our country. Anything that puts a Republican in the White House for another 4 years is nothing short of a fiasco. That is the "fierce urgency of now" our nation faces. For the good of the nation, we must win.