The Literary Divide/Dr. Paul Barrows
Time to move on
The results of last Tuesday’s primaries loom large for Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign for the Democratic Nomination. His stunning win in North
Carolina was decisive. In Indiana, Sen. Hillary Clinton won by a mere two percentage points. Any luster that she could gain from this marginal win have
been dimmed as many are speculating that she won only because the Republicans, as per Rush Limbaugh’s Operation Chaos, voted for her to make
mischief playing politics hoping to keep the race alive in order that the two candidates could continue to batter each other, making it easier for Sen.
McCain to win in November. The expressions on the face of Bill and Chelsea Clinton as Hillary addressed her supporters in Indianapolis all but
acknowledged that the end was near.
It is now time to move the campaign for the 2008 Presidential election to the next level. Sen. Obama has won twice as many states; he has an
insurmountable lead in the number of delegates and in the number of votes. Since last Tuesday, Obama has picked-up almost daily tallies of Super
Delegates gaining 21 to only 2 for Senator Clinton. He now has more Super Delegates than Clinton and is rapidly closing in on the 2025 Elected
Delegates needed to gain the nomination. Obama also continues to rake in mega millions for his campaign coffer while Hillary Clinton has now
amassed more than $21 million in debt as funding seems to dry up with fewer and fewer donations.
For Hillary, the question must be, why push the issue when it is clear by all indications that Sen. Obama will be the nominee representing the
Democratic Party against Sen. John McCain? What is it that she is trying to prove by dragging out the race with her threat to call on the Democratic
National Committee and the Credentials Committee to take actions that overrule and disenfranchise what the electorate has already established? Is she
holding on only to make a more acceptable and high profile exit after winning West Virginia and Kentucky?
On the heels of Tuesday’s defeat, Sen. Clinton made another potentially fatal gaff where many are positing that she has resorted to playing the race
card. She did so when she said that White women, the White elderly and White blue-collar workers were supporting her and not Obama implying that
they would not support Sen. Obama if he were the nominee. Clinton has been sharply criticized by Democratic Leaders and by many in the media who
has interpreted her words as suggesting that Obama cannot win in the Fall because he can only get Black votes. Hillary is wrong. Up until the Reverend
Wright debacle, Obama had received significant support from working class White workers in Iowa, New Hampshire, Missouri, Wisconsin and elsewhere.
He has also received strong support from young and educated White voters bringing in over three million new voters to Campaign 2008. Using Clinton’s
logic, Senator Obama could easily make the case that Hillary cannot win without strong support from African American voters where she is losing 92% to
8% to Obama. Obama is smart to stay above the fray and delve in such divisive politics. The more issues of race and gender continue to be prevalent in
the media, the more the Obama and Clinton campaigns will suffer the consequences to the benefit of Sen. McCain and the Republicans in the long run.
On the upside, pundits on the Sunday talk circuit have suggested that “quiet” negotiations are now underway between officials for the Clinton and
Obama Campaigns. There are indications that the issue of what is to happen with the Delegates from Florida and Michigan is close to being resolved in
a manner that would be mutually acceptable. It has also been suggested that the Obama Campaign assist Senator Clinton with raising funds to pay-off
the huge campaign debt that she has amassed. If true, this would be a noble move on Obama’s part. Getting these key issues resolved before the
Democratic Convention will go a long way towards building the kind of party unity that will be required for success in the Presidential election this Fall.
Sen. Obama is right to shift his focus to Sen. McCain giving lesser and lesser attention to Sen. Clinton. It is time to move the focus and the debate to
real issues at the new level.