To Obama and Hillary, and their supporters - there needs to be a deal

Okay, I promised a diary about the space economy, pt 3 - and actually, its almost set, but RL interfered.

Instead, I am going to offer a diary, on the current mess that we are in, why there needs to be a deal (and soon), and why supporters of each side need to get used to it, and accept that.

I promise space tomorrow.

Before I begin, I want to make this very clear - when MI held its primary (or pseudo-primary, as the case may be) I voted for Uncommitted, and, I am still, uncommitted (yea, pretty crazy, I know - neither of them have really addressed one of my big issues, and on my other big issue, while Hillary is ok, Obama has me concerned).

So, with that said - I'd argued that it is important for each side to understand we are past the point of it being about policy, or about it being the election of the first woman, vs the first African American - in short, the people who want Hillary elected, want Hillary Clinton elect - not Sebelius, (or another female governor/senator), they want Hillary Clinton.  This same rule applies to Obama supporters - they don't want Harold Ford Jr, or another African American - they want Barack Obama.  

I make this point for a very simple reason - the assumption is, on either side, that when primary season is over, the supporters of one candidate will automatically fall in line, and support the other candidate (IE Hillary supporters would by and large support Obama, or Obama supporters would by and large support Hillary).

Heres the thing - I am beginning to suspect that this wouldn't happen.  I realize its primary season, and a lot of things get said, about how "I'll only vote for the Democratic nominee if my candidate gets it", and so on and so forth, and most of the time, people are just blowing off steam.

However, the more I see, the more I suspect this is different - things and actions are happening that, once said and done, cannot be undone.  Case in point - my mom is a huge Dem - she and I did some volunteering during the 06 mid-terms.  But I have seen her just rail against Obama, like you would believe.  And I don't feel the need to count the number of diaries just tearing into Hillary (legitimately or not).

The time has come for the Superdelegates (especially the big names, who haven't endorsed, like Gore, Edwards, Pelosi, Dean, etc) to sit down with Clinton and Obama, and get them to start talking about a deal, of some kind.  As much as I would like to see the debate play itself out, and remain a positive campaign, it is clear that the urge to continue to go negative cannot be prevent, and permanent damage I fear has started.  Now, a couple of things

1.  The big issue that can arise is if MI and FL are not dealt with - I know there is real concern about the superdelegates, but it is MI and FL that, if they are included in the totals, would push Clinton over Obama - this is a very dangerous situation, and not dealing with FL and MI could really force a floor fight, espcially if there is no deal made.  

2.  The person who is to be the presidential nominee must be ahead in pledged delegates - By and large, Obama and Hillary supporters already agree on this.  So, we'll just move on to the next point

3.  The need for a deal isn't about satisfying Clinton, or Obama - its about satisfying Clinton supporters, or Obama supporters - as I said in the opening - the people supporting each candidate have moved beyond issues, and are now supporting Obama or Clinton, because they want Obama or Clinton.  These two Senators are not like Chris Dodd, or Biden - they didn't just get 1 or 2 pledged delegates, or even Edwards, who got 24 - Obama has 1,527 pledged delegates, and Clinton has 1,428 pledged delegates (at least according to CNN).  13,007,968 people voted for Obama, and 12,415,286 voted for Clinton.  We cannot, and should not, piss off those candidate supporters, just to punish a particular candidate, for whatever reason (IE you can't punish Clinton for her Iraq war vote, and Clinton supporters, you can't punish Obama for your seen injustices).  IF we do, we face a real danger of losing the election.

4.  The deal may include the Vice Presidential nomination, but it might not - Yes, I know there is much speculation about the "Dream team" ticket - a lot of pro and con.  Here is the thing - there are other positions that can be offered - Supreme Court Justice, Senate Majority Leader, Cabinet Secretary, just to name a few - yes, not all are necessarily the Presidential nominees to give away, but the stakes are high enough such that the various players (like for example, Reid and Durban) will be, I suspect, willing to compromise, so that the person who isn't the nominee can get said position.  However, the important caveat is that for the candidate who is not the nominee to recieve said position, they have to get the nominee elected.  And of course, all of this is doubly true if one person get the presidential nomination, and the other gets the VP nomination.

Anyway, that my take - I hope we either get a deal soon, or at least we see the campaigns clean things up.  

Unity and experience begin in the Party.

After Edit

Jeez, only been live a short time, and look at the response - I hope some of you come back tomorrow, when I post a diary about space.