Saturday, February 9, 2008

"Fasten your seatbelts...

...it's going to be a bumpy night." So said Bette Davis in All About Eve and I have a feeling that it would be wise for the Democratic party to follow Ms. Davis' advice over the next few months.

The possibility of the Democrat's nomination process turning ugly increases daily, and will continue to so long as the race remains close. It seems impossible now that either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton will arrive at their convention this summer with enough delegates to secure the nomination. This means that the so-called superdelegates will make the decision on who the nominee will be. And that spells trouble. Does anyone who has watched the Clintons over the past sixteen years really believe that Hillary will go down without a fight? Even among Democratic loyalists, the belief is that the Clintons would rather bring down the party than go down themselves. Nor does Barack Obama have any incentive to agree to some sort of deal (for instance, to accept the vice-presidency in return for stepping aside) so long as he has a good shot at the top of the ticket. Captain Ed had a terrific post on the subject a few days ago, and since then both Lisa Schiffren and Peggy Noonan have weighed in on it. Read it all. If Obama arrives at the convention with as legitimate a claim on the nomination as Hillary but ends up losing due to the greater influence of the Clinton's on the superdelegates, it could fracture the party. As Lisa mentions in her post, Donna Brazille has already threatened to bolt the party under such a scenario. She won't be the only one. Whatever happens, watching from the other side, it's going to be highly entertaining. I wish them all the luck they deserve.

No comments: