Campaign Commentary

The race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama is revealing some fissure points in the Democratic Party that could still help the Republicans despite an economic slowdown. Many Obama supporters don't want to return to a party dominated by the Clinton family, if only because they remember the bad blood that resulted in Washington when Bill was president, how it led to a lot of meaningless "culture battles" in the 1990's (they battled over a culture where there was none), and how we need to move on. Clinton supporters are so smug and self-assured, meanwhile, in their belief that only they can reverse the mistakes of the Bush dynasty - after all, they did it before, then they can do it again. Also a factor is the racial and economic divide, with Mrs. Clinton (who just won the Democratic caucus in Nevada) winning the support of whites, Hispanics, and the working class, with Obama drawing more votes from blacks and upscale voters irrespective of ethnicity. This could cause serious damage to the eventual winner of the Democratic nomination should the Republicans get their act together.

They may have already done so. John McCain - perhaps the only grownup on the Republican side - just won the South Carolina primary, singlehandedly reviving his campaign after his loss in Michigan, while Mitt Romney - a plausible alternative to McCain - won the Nevada Republican caucus. Sorry, Mike Huckabee.

And, as if it mattered, Duncan Hunter dropped out of the GOP race today.