I don't have time to bore you with the lengthy reasoning, deliberation, and conversation that went into the following conclusions I reached in the past week.
(1) After the Pennsylvania primary, Clinton should withdraw from the race. (2) The Clintons should throw the full weight of their influence behind Obama. (3) Obama should pick John Edwards as his running mate. (4) If the Democrats play their cards right, they can beat McCain in November. (5) It will be a tight situation, but even with negative press coverage, Obama has enough positive pull in the press to match it. The positives and negatives for Obama, in comparison to those for Hillary, and also to those for Mccain, come out in favor of Obama, especially coupled with Edwards. (6) Symbolic capital: Though symbolism doesn't mean much to me personally, here's how I see it. Clinton has to follow through on the Pennsylvania primary. If she were to win by a landslide, that would be an even better time to drop out. In any case, she will go down in history (with Bill) as a person who put the good of the country against vulgar personal ambition; if not the first woman president, then the white woman who helped the first black president get elected. Edwards has even more positives than Clinton could possibly have. Symbolically, a Southern white man (with a populist profile) as a junior partner to our first black president-elect would pack a symbolic wallop. Though it won't solve any world problems materially, an Obama(-Edwards) victory would drastically elevate the USA's damaged prestige in the world. I don't say any of this out of a misplaced audacity of hope or any radical change I believe in, or any particular political allegiance to Obama. Given the cards dealt, I think this is the best option. It's good for the Democratic Party, and it's good for the country. _______________________________________________ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
