Ellie has been agonizing a bit over today's primaries. I myself have been more philosophical. I like to think that it's still possible to trust the process. The worst possible outcome, of course, is not the loss or win for either Clinton or Obama, but the protraction of the bitter divide in the Democratic party. McCain is enjoying a significant period as Republican front runner, consolidating the support of his party into a more formidable force than I would have imagined a couple of months ago. If the Democrats continue to leave this field open to him while they squabble, it will not bode well for the coming months and the November election. And I can frankly imagine no bleaker scenario for the country and the world than another "conservative" American administration.
I put that word in quotation marks because I do not believe that what is currently marketed under that label is true conservatism. The excesses of the Bush years--pre-emptive war, nation-building, outrageous budgetary irresponsibility, and the apparently total absence of accountability--these are not, surely, conservative values. McCain offers nothing other than a perpetuation of the Bush policies that have brought us where we are today.
So it's not the political fate of Clinton or Obama that's at stake, it's the viability of the Democratic party as contenders for both the presidency and working majorities in both houses of Congress. I understand Ellie's butterflies. On the other hand, I believe that we will get what, as a nation, we ask for and deserve. THAT'S the (potentially) depressing part of this. Let's wait and see...
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