I floated the idea in these pages some weeks back that Clinton would do anything, including burning down the Democratic party, to gain the nomination because this is basically her only shot at the Presidency, and when it comes down to it, that's all she's interested in -- not a Democratic President, but a Hillary Clinton Presidency.
There was some controversial discussion about that proposition at the time, but I believe the last three weeks of the campaign have clearly indicated that, indeed, Clinton is in this for herself first. She's elevated John McCain's qualifications over Obama's, used every Lee Atwater-Karl Rove trick in the book, focussed on trivia while avoiding issues, claimed to be ahead while she's behind, and we now hear very explicit threats to sue over Michigan and Florida because it's clear that's the Clintons' only path to the nomination.
In short, she's exercising the nuclear option: she's pushing the button and hoping when the clouds of radioactive dust settle, she's in the best position to be leader of the crumbled ruins she's leaving behind.
How does Obama fight this? How do you fight this? By Mutually-Assured Destruction, the only means of deterring nuclear madmen. Or madwomen. More on the flip.
I'm a yellow dog. I think it's destructive to the party and to the nation to threaten to withhold a vote in the fall, or even to vote for the Republican candidate. So I've never, ever done that. Come what may, I've pulled the lever for the donkey in the fall.
This time: no way. Hillary got my vote by default if she were the nominee before the last three weeks, but she's lost it by engaging in politics and talking points that could have come from the RNC's lost email.
So I'm exercising my own nuclear option. Here's the deal. I'm not voting for Clinton in the fall, if she's the nominee.
If she continues this childish game of attack politics and avoids real issues, I'll exercise my second-strike capability and vote for McCain.
Clinton may be counting on trying to "mend fences" after the convention, but with only two months between the convention and the election, it's a losing strategy. She's got to be convinced now that only an honorable victory -- one in the interests of the Democratic party -- will produce a victory in the fall. And the only way to do that, apparently, is to go right to the heart of her own argument, which is electability.
I've previous said on multiple occasions I'd be happy with either of the Democratic nominees in the fall. I retract those comments.
I'm going nuclear, but only because Clinton launched a pre-emptive first strike. (She seems real fond of launching pre-emptive wars.)