the technologist

It will be in the dog days of summer, towards the end of August, when the Democrats meet in Denver for the nominating convention. With wins in Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania, Clinton will be the once invincible-frontrunner turned worst-campaign-in-history turned insurgent-underdog. She will fly into Denver and the fate of the party will hang in the hands of super delegates.

And we’ll see a speeding force slam into an immovable object. But it all hinges on Clinton’s Ohio and Texas returns.

If Clinton is the nominee she’ll have no choice but to have Obama as Vice-President. She’s simply alienated too many people who are politically married to him.

Clinton’s painted herself into a corner: This coalition of young people, African-Americans, independents and ordinary citizens fed up with Washington reticence cannot be counted on for an Obama-less Clinton ticket. These are mostly first-time voters who view politics as a route to a meaningful life, and Obama has brought them out in record-breaking numbers.

So what’s Obama to do if Clinton tops the ticket?

If he finds Denver a farce and blames the party’s elite, he could storm out of the convention, with his supporters behind him, and we’d see the next chapter in Partisan Implosions (see Republicans in 1912 and 1964 or Democrats in 1920 and 1968).

We’d likely see another four years of a Republican executive.

But if Obama accepts, there’s a good chance there could be a Democrat in the White House for 16 years. Liberal backlash will have never tasted so sweet.

But this long-term, variable-infused logic will be wasted thought if Obama wins Texas or Ohio. Today, Obama supporters see the blood in the water and hold their breath anticipating the Clinton machine’s last stand.

The writing is on the wall—The Clinton campaign cannot be happy with Sunday’s front-page New York Times article headed, “Soldiering on— but Somber as Horizons Darken.” The three column-wide photo of Clinton is taken from the neck up, with her looking over the camera lens. There’s surrounding wasted space to the left, right and above Clinton’s head.

When the media begins publishing unflattering photos, it’s a between-the-lines tip to throw in the towel. Feminists might consider it a glass ceiling, but a more impartial observer would see this as what it is: another bad sign.

If Clinton splits the Texas-Ohio March 4 contests, she must step away with dignity and do whatever it takes to make sure Obama sleeps happily in the White House.

Which begs the question, could she ever be second on the Democratic ticket? As terrific a running mate she’d be, she cannot keep her husband at bay, and thus would not even be considered.

Whatever happens March 4, and into August, will not only make history, but will also be the origins of the next American epoch. And considering the nation’s history– the Constitution cannot handle another aggressive term of merging church with state, an arrogant and unilateral foreign policy, trumping federal legislation with presidential signing statements, continued abridging of civil liberties, torture, and politicizing the very departments like the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency that are supposed to protect us.

Everything that has come to dominate Republicanism in the 21st Century must be thrown out and replaced with the opposite.

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Max Zimbert is a political columnist for The Technologist

Stumble it!

~ by Kent Francisco on March 2, 2008.