Wow...what an election season! For a political junkie like myself this was truly the gold standard of a primary season.

As we enter the final contests there are powerful statistics out there we would be wise not to ignore...

The fact is that nearly one third of Clinton supporters and nearly one third of Obama supporters say they would NOT support the other in the general election.

The days of "I'm sure her supporters would vote for me but I'm not sure my supporters would vote for her" are long...long...gone.

I am a strong, strong Hillary supporter. However, I am well aware of how catostrophic a McCain presidency would be. Therefor, I do not fall into the above category. That being said, I know many, many people who feel DEEPLY offended at the way she has been treated by the media, the party leaders, and many of Obama's supporters. They plan to either stay home or even go so far as to send a protest vote to McCain.

You know the "outrage" people say African Americans and young people would feel if Obama was "denied" the nomination. Well...millions of Women, Latinos, and Older Democrats feel that way right now.

I truly hope that should Obama win; his campaign realizes this outrage is both real and heartfelt. Personally, I cannot see any solution other than the two of them running together.

On that note, both have ammassed enough delegates that neither could be denied the VP slot IF they wanted it.

There's more...

I noticed two things today. Firstly, and most importantly, Hillary Clinton appears to have called off her attack dawgs from attacking Obama, which was a surprise considering that she had an opening after "sweetie"gate, and secondly our dawg, Obama, has nasty teeth that he doesn't hesitate to sink into Bush-McCain's decrepit ass.
The Democratic Party has moved into the reconcilation/general election prep phase, a phase that the Democrats should have moved into months ago, but let's let by-gones be by-gones. The Unity Ticket has recaptured life (from near death), and it looks all but 100% certain now, with either candidate filling either role.
I say peace, as long as Obama is on the ticket, and Clinton already basically promised us that back in early March, and I can't imagine Hillary not being Obama's running mate in light of her saying "grave error it would be not to vote for Sen. Obama", on the CNN situation room.
Now on to issue #2; our dawg can bite, and all the major news networks are repeating the showing of Obama tearing Bush-McCain a new one. As we say in the South, in most inner cities, and in most rural areas, the chains have been taken off, and now that Clinton and Obama are on the same side, Obama no longer has to play defense. No more apologizing, it is now time to go for the jugglar and rip the guts out of the Republican presumptive nominee.
Are we all in on this one gang?

There's more...

(CNN) -- Hillary Clinton on Wednesday reiterated her vow to stay in the Democratic presidential race, but she said it would be a "terrible mistake" for her supporters to vote for John McCain over Barack Obama. "Anybody who has ever voted for me or voted for Barack has much more in common in terms of what we want to see happen in our country and in the world with the other than they do with John McCain," Clinton said on CNN's "The Situation Room."
"I'm going to work my heart out for whoever our nominee is -- obviously I'm still hoping to be that nominee, but I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that anyone who supported me ... understands what a grave error it would be not to vote for Sen. Obama."
Finally Hillary Clinton is saying what I want to hear.
To: Senator Clinton
Welcome back Hillary from the dark side of Republican Talking Points. I am still pissed at you for the "working, hard-working Americans, white Americans" comment, but your assertion that a "grave error it would be not to vote for Sen. Obama", is the equvilent of a political apology for the "Threshold of Commander in Chief" comment, and as an Obama supporter I'll say apology accepted. You were my girl prior to the "Threshold" comment, and as an Obama supporter I'll say you can be my girl again. You restored my faith in the Unity Ticket, and I will now fully back it (as long as you are willing to accept the VP role should you come up short on obtaining the nomination). Policy wise you always were my girl, though I still wish you would show regret for your vote to authorize the Iraq war, and I now say I will vote for you if you win the nomination, though I would prefer that Obama won it.
Well, I am looking forward for a unity ticket now (regardless of the positions), and I now feel comfortable voting for which ever Democratic obtains the nomination.  

There's more...

After a week of being inundated with Obama surrogates unhelpfully dismissing the notion that Barack Obama would deign to choose Hillary Clinton as his VP nominee, a majority of voters, including 3/4 of Clinton supporters, are signaling loud and clear that that's exactly what he should do.

In a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll, 55% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents also would like Illinois Sen. Barack Obama to choose Clinton as his running mate, although there's notable resistance among his backers. [...]

Three of four Clinton supporters would like to see her on Obama's ticket. But 52% of Obama supporters would rather he "choose someone else."

In other words, the first unifying gesture for a man who's run on his ability to unify would be to choose the person who came in a close second for the ticket. It puzzles me to hear people automatically dismiss the idea of Clinton as VP. For one thing, as this poll proves, the pick it would assuage Clinton's extremely passionate army of supporters, who Obama is going to need in the general -- and I'm not just talking for votes. But in addition, a Clinton pick has the added benefit of shoring up Obama's demographic weaknesses (working class whites, latinos, women), his perceived deficiency in the resume department, which, quite frankly, I suspect would cause more people to defect to McCain than Obama's race would, and it would balance out his lofty post-partisan inspirer-in-chief persona with an in the trenches fighter, one who for once would beat the pants off the Republican VP nominee in a debate.

As for the cons, well, I do find the argument that it would be counter to Obama's message of a new kind of politics rather compelling, but the benefits that would accrue to the ticket overall would far outweigh any thematic incongruence. And as for the personality conflict argument or the "what would Obama do with Bill" argument, please, Obama says time and time again this campaign is not about him; surely his choice for VP should be about way more than who gets along with whom and Clinton on the ticket would be far more likely to enable the transformation Obama wants to achieve than hinder it.

I was glad to see Hardball's analysis of Obama's most likely VP picks omit Bill Richardson from contention. Not only is Richardson horribly gaffe-prone, but I just don't think a black/brown ticket is realistic.

As for another popular pick, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, I have to say I'm puzzled. I suppose her being a Democrat in a red state brings that thematic congruence to the ticket, but little else. Certainly her dud of a State of the Union response alone should disqualify her as not ready for prime time, but ultimately I agree with Dem strategist Steve McMahon who said on Hardball yesterday that national security experience is going to be much too important to Obama's choice of VP for Sebelius to be seriously considered.

It's no accident that the consensus pick as the "best" choice for Obama on Hardball yesterday was a Republican, Chuck Hagel, for his national security experience (read: gravitas) and the message it would send vis a vis Obama's post-partisan message of inclusion. Which is to say that the Democrats on the list all have something that makes them problematic. Is Hillary Clinton's so-called divisiveness so problematic that it should keep her off the ticket? Seems to me that not only does Hillary Clinton balance out Obama's weaknesses -- the true utility of a VP choice -- but when it comes to the Democratic base, she's far more of a unifying pick than a divisive one.

There's more...

For those of you who want to see a democratic unity ticket of Obama/Clinton this November, you may be interested in the group Draft Obama/Clinton http://draftobamaclinton.com/petition/ The group also has a petition going calling for this unity ticket. It is addressed as "We the People," and sets forth:

"Millions have participated in Democratic primaries and caucuses this election year. We have infused our nation's democracy with new energy.

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