On Tuesday night Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's quest to become the nation's first female President came to an end. Sen. Obama secured enough delegates to clinch the Democratic nomination, making him the first African American nominee of a major political party. Sen. Clinton congratulated Sen. Obama on his impressive campaign but did not immediately concede.
Sen. Clinton decided not to do anything about her campaign Tuesday night and would instead look at her options later in the week. That choice by Sen. Clinton has been viewed by some as stealing Obama's thunder after he has just made history. Now there are lots of concerns now about unifying the party. But the question many people are wondering is can the party come together? This primary season has gotten very ugly, so ugly that the party is divided nearly down the middle. Sen Clinton and Obama each have received nearly or around 18 million votes. The difference in delegates isn't that far apart. I think going into the race Sen. Clinton was presumed the likely winner because of her obvious connection to President Clinton. As the races played out and the other democratic candidates started to be picked off, it started to become clear that Sen. Clinton would have a to overcome a lot of media bashing and beat out Sen. Obama to win the nomination. In the end it can be said that both senators ran strong campaigns, especially Sen. Clinton. Every time she got knocked down, she stood back up and continued to fight. A few weeks ago the top members of her party were calling for her to throw in the bag, but she continued to press on, and made quite a good showing for it.
I think it reasonable for Sen. Clinton not to concede Tuesday night but to regroup and work out a way to start to unify the party. The Clinton's are not use to losing, so it's definitely a new experience for them so people need to give Sen. Clinton a little time to do what we know she will ultimately do. I believe she wants what's best for her party. I remember that there were threats by some Clinton supporters to vote McCain or stay home if Sen. Obama was the nominee. So i think there is going to have to be some very gentle handling of these supporters if they hope carry them into "Obama for President."
Now that Sen. Obama is the Democratic nominee for President everyone in the party needs to get on the Obama train if they hope to win this election. I know that this race has split the party but now that it's over the Obama camp needs to start passing the olive branches. He needs to work with Sen. Clinton to heal all of those hard feelings the campaigns have caused on both sides. It seems that Tuesday night Sen. Clinton called Sen. Obama and offered to discuss a few things. It's been reported in the media that she may positioning herself to become Sen. Obama's running mate. Can you imagine a Obama/Clinton ticket, both bringing the support that they have both enjoyed this primary season. It has the potential to be a great combination if Sen. Clinton doesn't try to force herself on Sen. Obama. That would be a tragic mistake on her part. On the other hand Obama should give her some serious consideration.
This is the first time in eight years that the democrats are going into an election race with the greatest momentum to win. Popular opinion on the war in Iraq favors them if they don't screw it up. So when Obama and Clinton meet and discuss plans to bring the party together, how they handle the situation could very well determine the next President.
