McCain Enjoys Free Pass

The longer the Democratic nominee remains undecided, the better John McCain's chances look for becoming the next President. It is not so much a question of time to campaign against him because there will still be ample time for an effective campaign after the Democratic convention. Rather, it is a question of the damage done to both Clinton and Obama during their contest and what appears to be a widening split within the party that McCain supporters cannot help but enjoy.

It wasn't that long ago that progressives were celebrating a number of good Democratic candidates while Republicans were squabbling over which of their choices was the lesser of many evils. At that time, a McCain presidency seemed like an impossible scenario. McCain is deeply flawed in so many ways, and seemed to have little support among members of his own party.

How times have changed! As increasing numbers of Republicans are uniting behind McCain and the Republican attack machine has a luxury of time, we Democrats are bogged down in what once would have seemed trivial. The differences in policy between Obama and Clinton are still fairly minor. Any hope of real political change vanished with Kucinich, and we are left deciding on grounds other than policy.

I'm not suggesting that our decision is trivial. I decided to support Obama after Kucinich and Edwards left the race, but I've never had even the slightest inclination to support Clinton. Her campaign tactics have merely strengthened my largely unfavorable impressions of her. I think she should leave the race and work to repair the damage she has done to the party.

At the same time, I want to make sure that the Democrats remain focused on the real issue - Iraq. We must remember that McCain is the opponent that most matters. His free pass has lasted long enough.

Tags: Democratic nominee, McCain, campaign, convention, Democratic, Clinton, Obama, Republican, Democrat, Kucinich, Edwards, Iraq, Iraq war, war, election 2008, 2008 election