Campaign Situation

Unlike back in 2004, I am very pleased with how the current presidential campaign season has gone so far. John McCain, a decent, brave, non-ideological conservative who is strong on national defense, is going to be the Republican Party's nominee. Barack Obama, a great communicator along the lines of John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, is in a good position to win the Democratic Party's nomination. If this holds true, then the November election, for me, will be a matter of choosing whom I like the most and not whom I dislike the least (as it was in 2004).

One of the problems with the primary phase of the campaign is the intra-party animosity and hurt feelings that necessarily accrue between different candidates and their supporters during the arduous and hard-hitting campaigning. The Republicans, ideologically-elitist right-wing radio talk show hosts notwithstanding, seem to be coming back together in the spirit of reconciliation that the situation demands, if victory is to be had in November. Even McCain's only significant remaining challenger, Mike Huckabee, is running basically a positive issue-based campaign. The Democrats, though, may be in for a bit of trouble. If Hillary Clinton doesn't see the writing on the wall after March 4 (when the Ohio and Texas primaries are held) and withdraw from the race, I'm afraid that the bitterness that is rising in this campaign may not be extinguishable. I believe that the Clintons might become spiteful and unforgiving about losing, but I also believe that most of their supporters would be quite happy at supporting Barack Obama as their candidate in the general election. I don't see (based on the public opinion polls) how Hillary can win by huge margins in Ohio and Texas (she may even lose the Lone Star State). And if she is counting on making up for her primary and caucus losses by wheeling and dealing for superdelegates, then I believe that she is bordering on the delusional. I say this, feeling that if their situations were reversed, Obama would have the grace to bow out and throw his support to Clinton after next week's results. Hillary can make a big impression on me if she moves toward reconciliation (barring unexpected landslide primary wins next Tuesday). I'd love to see an Obama/Clinton ticket in November!