LINDSEY BOERMA
Staff Writer
Consider this a public service announcement to the members of the Democratic Party. In just over seven months, Americans will be entering polling places to vote for President of the United States. The problem? If the current trend keeps up, you still won’t have a candidate.
Disregarding Ron Paul (who, for reasons entirely beyond my comprehension, is still in the race), the Republican field has been narrowed down from six serious candidates to one. Now, it is the two-man Democratic race that has taken over in impeding any chance the United States still has of an uncomplicated election.
Don’t get me wrong — I’ll be the first to acknowledge that the reason a Democratic frontrunner hasn’t emerged in the race is because it is composed of two very enticing candidates. This is in opposition to the GOP field, which I believe ended up with John McCain merely because Republicans didn’t know what else to do.
These circumstances have left us with a Republican candidate who cannot generate conservative support and two Democratic candidates who don’t seem to notice this weakness in their GOP rival. Instead of taking advantage of the Republicans’ dissatisfaction with McCain, they are drawing attention away from the situation by continuing to battle within their own party. Sound familiar?
Mike Huckabee pulled a similar maneuver in the Republican race, refusing to face the facts and drop out, inhibiting McCain from increasing his support base. Now it seems that Hillary Clinton has a lot more in common with Huckabee than just an occasional appearance on “Saturday Night Live.”
Granted, the conditions are drastically different. Unlike Huckabee, Clinton at one time had valid reason to believe she could be her party’s nominee. But that time has passed, and now her campaign has degraded into a slew of last attempts at hanging onto her place in this election.
If you’ve turned on the television or picked up a newspaper sometime in the past few weeks, chances are you’ve been completely beleaguered by news about the Democratic party — Barack Obama’s racial controversies, Florida and Michigan primary redo attempts and the list goes on. All these can be traced back to Clinton’s continued presence in the race.
The Florida and Michigan primaries, for example, have become perfect paradigms for this unnecessary lingering Democratic race. Both states were stripped of their delegates for holding their presidential primaries before the date determined by the Democratic National Committee — a punishment that was emphasized far ahead of the fact.
Now, as Obama begins to take the lead in delegates and overall national support, complaints are being raised over the uncounted Florida and Michigan delegates, which would have benefited Clinton. Consequently, the DNC has recently rejected proposals of mail-in do-over primaries — a practice that would have gone against election policies, as well as state regulations.
I personally think the DNC is absolutely right in its decision. They would never be able to justify bending the rules to profit a particular candidate, nor should they have to. Just as ludicrous as this controversy is the recent emergence of racial slurs made by Obama’s longtime preacher.
While I am in no way endorsing racial prejudice in a presidential candidate, I think the matter relies too much on speculation and judgment by association. Clinton, of all people, should know the unfair penalties of being linked to someone else’s mistakes, and I think her campaign, as well as the rest of America, would do well to leave it alone.
If Clinton ceded her run for the White House now, I would still look for her to be picked up by Obama as a running mate. It would be an undefeatable ticket, and probably her best bet in this election.
After all, the United States has already had a President Clinton, and if Americans have proven anything in this race, it’s that they’re looking for change.
03-27-2008
