Why the Tie is Good for Democracy–and for the Democrats
I confess. I wanted a big win for Barack Obama. And I didn’t get it, no matter how late I stayed up. It was not one of my better moments, I think. After all, what would have happened if Obama had really thumped Hillary Clinton? Can’t you just imagine all the bad blood between the two camps, spilling into the press, delighting the Republican strategists recording it all for the general election campaign? And I don’t think any Democrat would really enjoy watching the Clinton campaign implode. There’s too much talent and expertise in that campaign that we need to beat the Republicans; too many hopes of too many good Democrats are now hitched to the first serious woman presidential candidate, and I don’t want those hopes to be dashed in one day.
When I figured this out enough for my own satisfaction, I wrote it for the Huffington Post. Here’s how it begins:
So most of last night, as I watched the returns, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I wanted my guy to just flat-out win, even though I knew there was something wrong with that. It took me till this morning to figure it out. (What can I say? I was an academic long before I became a blogger, and academics need to chew things over.) Here’s what’s wrong with the desire most of us share for the definitive victory, the knockout punch, as it were.
1. We’re smack dab in the middle of the most democratic primary campaign in a generation. . . . ..
You can read the rest of the piece by clinking here.