Senator Clinton, Drop-out, and Senator Obama, Drop-out

I have grown weary of the media and Obama's supporters constant chant of "Drop-out Hillary." Time and again, commentators whine that Senator Clinton cannot win, that the way they calculate she will not have as many delegates as Senator Obama by the time of the Democratic convention. What these pundits neglect to say is that Senator Obama cannot win either. By convention time, he may be ahead in delegates but he will not have enough to win the nomination without the vote of the superdelegates. Neither can win without the superdelegates.

Obama supporters are especially disingenuous, saying that for the good of the party, Senator Clinton should drop-out. The only good they are thinking of is their candidate's. The media parrots the Obama line. Many people in states that have not voted yet in the Democratic Party process want to be able to participate. Those people have a right to have their votes count, too. What do the Obama people fear? A dismal showing in the final primaries by their candidate? Is that why they want to disenfranchise so many?

I suggest that Senator Obama drop-out in the interest of the party. His unknowns are coming home to roost. By the time he reaches the main event, independents will be running to McCain. Let's put it bluntly, he is losing the independent white vote because of his association with a church that seems to have harbored anti-American sentiments. In the last week, three different people I know well, not Democrats, not Republicans, have told me that they can no longer support Obama. Everyone admired his speech on race, everyone thought it did not address the issue.

I can understand staying with a church despite the pastor, but that was not Senator Obama's explanation. He stayed because he had not heard the pastor's hate speech. Once he heard that speech, he did not leave because the pastor had retired. I would have argued that a church is not the pastor, that a church is its people. A church with wonderful people that tolerates an aging pastor is one scenario, a church that endorses the preaching of an intolerant pastor is another. I am not clear which describes Senator Obama's church.

All the pro-Obama pundits are saying that the Reverend Wright fiasco is over. I don't think so. I think that it is less important to Democrats than to independents and to Republicans fed up with George Bush. If Senator Obama is the nominee, I fear how his pastor's and his wife's words will be used against him. Yes, that is the other topic that comes up with the independents that I know, Mrs. Obama's statements. Sad to say, I think what people say to pollsters may not reflect how they will vote. We must wait for the next primary.

The Democratic Party has a process in place with which to select its nominee. The nominee is not the person that reaches the convention with the most votes in hand, the nominee is the person that collects 2024 votes at the convention. Let's wait for the actual vote.