If you give a dance, you gotta pay the band!

Or as the line from "The Kite Runner" puts it, "Nothing is free." That's something my mother was prone to tell me from time to time.

It's a lesson the Democratic Party leaders and Super Delegates need to internalize in a hurry. Nothing is free! It's getting close to time to pay the band, and the price is getting steeper and steeper.

Party leadership and many Super Delegates have adopted a deer in the headlights stance regarding the last few primary contests. The prevailing wisdom seems to be," what do we have to lose by waiting?" And,  "we are giving the last states a chance to participate, build momentum and build the roles". Besides, they say, aborting the process will chance losing a significant chunk of either Obama or Clinton supporters!

But the PA race has presented evidence to the contrary.

As the debate descended into debacle and the race turned bitter and negative in the last week or so, positions among the voters are hardening and hard core supporters on both sides are becoming embittered. The exit polls show that number of folks who say they will vote for the opposition or stay home if their candidate doesn't win is growing, and hardening. The themes and accusations  being used by the candidates to try to gain advantage now, will not just dissipate after this contest has ended, they will linger in the air poisoning the survivors general election campaign.  Already you can see them echoing around the web and MSM.

Money needed by the party and the congressional campaigns is starting to dry up - the money geysers have slowed. There is only a finite amount that most people can give, regardless of the campaign finance rules. In a tightening economy, most folks can't continue to take money from their budget to spend on the candidates TV buys and flyers - and give to the party of DCCC - and give to local candidates for office - and fill the gas tank,  feed their families and pay their bills. And if the primary exhausts voters wallets, the general will generate less for both the presidential candidate and those down ticket races that are the foundation on which governance is built.

Policy positions that should never be uttered are being voiced in the effort to gain temporary leverage - witness the "nuclear umbrella" statement recently made by Sen. Clinton and the "no taxes"  acquiescence by both candidates recently. In an effort to win the candidates are getting pushed into places it would be much better for them not to have to go.

And the tenor of the campaign generally is taking a decidedly negative tone - a fact that cannot help the winner, but will help the Republican candidate. It is also becoming embedded in the MSM - and thus widely disseminated.

And you can add, time lost in trying to bring the party back together, time gained by McCain to shore up a relatively week candidacy.

And what do the candidates gain? Is the race tightening... one candidate gaining ground or one losing it? What are the chances their relative positions will change between now and the last contest in June?

More importantly, what do party supporters and voters gain. Are they learning more about the candidates or their policies and platforms? Are they gaining insight into the process? Are they joining arms to march unified to the convention and beyond, building strength and unity? Are they building support and campaign chests for the general election? Are you closer to resolving the FL and MI disputes, or healing the wound that picking that particular scab caused? Is the eventual Presidential Candidate able to rest, refuel and even spend a little time helping down ticket candidates raise funds and build momentum? Is the party becoming stronger? The message getting clearer or more persuasive?

The Party is gonna have to pay for this dance, and the price is getting steeper and steeper! It's time that the Party Leadership led and called "last dance!" Time to take responsibility for your party and your candidate and display some of that "leadership" and "accountability" that we hear so much about.

•  tips...

  by plainbrown1 on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 07:11:13 AM PDT