strung out election junkie
by Ari Holtz
Published: March 8, 2008
We’re supposed to be done with this. I was told that by now it would all be over. Really, I was. Super Tuesday was supposed to decide things. It decided nothing. March 4th was supposed to clear things up, knock Hillary Clinton out once and for all. Again, though, nothing changed, nothing ended. This whole process of selecting a Democratic nominee should be clear and done by now. But, it’s not. It’s more confusing and convoluted than ever. And I’m tired. So tired.
Six months ago, Clinton was supposed to walk away with this thing. She had the name, the money and the establishment behind her. Then along came the upstart Senator Obama with his Iowa surprise, South Carolina resurgence, and Super Tuesday stand. Suddenly, it was his game to lose. He became conventional wisdom’s front runner after 12 straight primary and caucus wins. John McCain started attacking him. George W. Bush followed suit. Obama was the presumptive nominee, no? All he had to do was win either the Ohio or Texas primary, right? The contest was essentially over, correct?
Incorrect.
March 4th came and Clinton won Ohio by 10 points and Texas by three. She threw in a Rhode Island win for good measure. So, Clinton’s back. She’s a fighter. She can win the nomination. The battle is on.
Wait, is it?
Clinton won three states including the two big ones. That’s a major victory. Obama, however, won only about 10 pledged delegates less than Clinton. So, really, the night was more of a wash. Clinton, though, finally succeeded in getting the press to thoroughly vet and examine Obama; his free ride of glowing media attention is over. Advantage Clinton. Although, Obama still has a significant delegate lead, he continues to get commitments from superdelegates, and Clinton would have to win something like 95% of remaining delegates to reach the magic nominating number of 2025.
So, Obama is still the front runner? Even though the huge April Pennsylvania primary, according to Clinton, will decide the whole race?
What about Obama’s claim that, regardless of a Clinton win in Pennsylvania, he will still likely have won more states, more delegates, and the popular vote?
Mercy, mercy, me.
I’m exhausted. Dazed. Confused.
What is fact? Fiction? Reality? Delusion?
I’m lost.
I try to escape it. I try to take a break from Tim Russert and Chris Mathews and Anderson Cooper. I flee from talk of re-voting in Michigan and Florida and Hispanics for Clinton and blacks for Obama. I retreat from the blathering of spinmeisters and surrogates, Chelsea and Michelle, and from Bill. Oh, most of all, from Bill.
But, I can’t escape. My dreams are filled with Brit Hume and Katie Couric yapping about middle-class voters and rural voters, elderly voters and young voters, Tony Rezko and income tax returns. I have nightmares about proportionally divided delegate distributions and brokered conventions.
It can’t be outrun, it can’t be evaded. It’s relentless. The race will go on; it keeps coming and coming. I will still follow it. I have to. I will still read about it and write about it. I must. Because I’m a junkie. I’m insatiable. I know it’s killing me. I have primary fever, caucus influenza, and delegate-itus. But, I can’t stop. I can’t look away.
This is starting to be a little much.
Enough already guys, eh?
Can’t Democrats just make a choice and move on like normal people, sane people, healthy people? Like Republicans?
On second thought…
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