Beyond November

By Allison Kilkenny at Huffington Post

Clinton and Obama supporters have been slugging it out for months, and the hounds are now snapping at Hillary’s heels. Chris Dodd has publicly declared that this race must end.

Indeed, it must end if the Democratic nominee is to stand a chance against a thoroughly refreshed (and feisty) John McCain. The longer the brawling between Clinton and Obama goes on, the longer the mainstream press ignores McCain, the very thing he needs in order to survive a general election.

The in-party bickering is myopic and petty. Beyond Obama’s Reverend Wright and Clinton’s version of her Bosnia trip are the very real problems in the Democratic Party, and the larger problems of America’s economy, the Iraq war, and the Iran diplomatic crisis.

Both Clinton and Obama have been vague about private mercenary companies like Blackwater. This presents a troubling issue. Even if troops are brought home “on day one,” will a shadow war continue? If private mercenaries are also brought home, who will stay to guard the huge U.S. embassy in Iraq? Clinton and Obama have cornered themselves on this issue.

Then there’s universal health care, the mirage in America’s endless political desert. It seems like we’ve been promised health coverage forever, and the Clintons blundered the first real chance we had at implementation when they pursued the gritty details for too long, too secretively.

Such a huge policy shift will need massive public support, and the first step toward securing that is a strategically sound battle plan, including a ten-point plan (made digestible for memorization by every farmer, housewife, and child in America,) and a single Democratic candidate leading the charge toward Congress.

Oh, but first, Democrats need to decide between Clinton and Obama.

Better hurry.