I Don't Need Your Civil War...

If Hillary Clinton wants to see a Democrat in the White House come November, it is time for her to get out of the race. It's that simple. She is too far behind in terms of pledged delegates for her to have any hope of catching Barack Obama. She claims that she is ahead in the popular vote, which is only true if one counts Florida and Michigan, where Obama did not appear on the ballot due to the Democratic Party's sanctions against those states (So yes, she beat nobody). She is also seeing more and more of the so-called 'superdelegates' defect to Obama's camp. It is these three truths that make it all but certain that the Democratic nominee for the White House in 2008 will be Barack Obama.

Clinton claims to be fighting the good fight; not giving up and taking her campaign to the Democratic National Convention. While normally such a course of action would be a symbolic show of toughness and conviction, the truth is that Clinton's determination to stay in the race might very well allow John McCain to win in the general election. McCain's candidacy was determined months ago; since then, he has been laying the groundwork for the big show. Despite the conservative base's discontent with McCain's moderate policies, the Republican Party is relatively unified behind him. Both Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney have come out in support of their former opponent. He has been going after both Clinton and Obama in his campaign speeches.

And thus lies the problem. The Republican movement is geared up for the general election. Money is being raised, advertisements are coming together, and the campaign strategy is being formed. Meanwhile, the Democrats are still in primary mode. Clinton and Obama continue to snipe and attack each other, further dividing the Democratic Party and wasting money that could be put to use against the Republicans.

Between Iraq, the falling economy, the administration's mismanagement of the Hurricane Katrina response, and the massive impending deficit, there is absolutely no reason why the Democrats should not be able to claim not only the White House, but wider leads in both the House and Senate come November. No reason, that is, except for the chronic infighting brought on by Clinton's stubbornness. If she backs out of the race, the party will unify behind the idealism of Barack Obama and recapture the optimism and energy that it had a year ago. In such an instance, it is hard to envision a situation in which McCain can pull out a victory.

Author's Note: I am in no way endorsing Barack Obama. I find him to be a big-government liberal with little in the way of fiscal responsibility, albeit one with an unusual idealism. However, I despise Hillary Clinton and I find John McCain, the Bush administration, and the majority of the Republican Party, anathema to the term 'conservative'. This post is simply an attempt at a neutral analysis of the Democrats' situation. Come November, I will most likely vote for either the Libertarian candidate or write-in Ron Paul.