BunkoSquad

Thank you. That's all I'm sayin'.

Somebody on CNN compared her speech last night to Nixon's "Checkers." A shiver went up my spine.

I preface what I'm about to say by mentioning how much distaste I have for Mrs. Clinton.

That said, with the numbers as close as they are, and the supporters as rabid, I wonder if there's anybody else to put on the ticket that will even come close to unifying the party. What's happening right now is writ large what happened in Baltimore when Carcetti squeaked out the nomination (with McCain being Carcetti's analogue here). We have been very effectively split (aided in no small part by Hillary's vanity, casual racism and back-biting), and in a political climate where it should be impossible for a Democrat to lose, I think victory in November is anything but assured.

So which would be worse, a Democratic ticket that wins with Hillary on it, or one that loses independently of her? We could try to argue that it's possible for him to win without her, but it seems much more likely that he would with her, yes? Isn't that the most important thing?

I know I'm coming off as a Hillary apologist, and anyone who knows me knows that couldn't be further from the truth. But Jesus, coming off the administration that we are, looking down the McCain's barrel, is it so wrong to want to make this easier on ourselves?

I don't necessarily concede that it will be that much tougher without her. Adding her brings out some of the lunatic right fringe that might sit on their hands, because they're still not sold on McCain. I don't see what states swing on whether Hillary's there or not; a lot of her argument was that she won all the close states, but I can't realistically see her tipping the scales in a place like PA or even Michigan.

As for unifying the party, part of me thinks that most of the people who took her side in the last few weeks will come to their senses once Obama and McCain appear side by side, like I think most Obama supporters would have if things had shaken out the other way. I also think if you were to chase down the "I love Hillary and will never vote for Obama" sentiment on the Internetz, 90% comes from Republican shitstirrers.

I admit, this election will be tougher than it should be, and tougher than I'd like it to be. But I really think Hillary brings more baggage than good to the ticket, and more trouble than it's worth.

And no fair bringing up Carcetti's election when you know I'm still on Season One.

Obama, please do not put Hillary on the ticket. Put someone there that (a) you can work with and (b) does not bring Bill along with her and (c) was not trashing you for the last five months.

If this were 2004, I'd easily agree with you. But see the thing that I keep coming back to is the ridiculous disparity between the numbers posted by the Democratic and Republican primaries. A year ago I was convinced this election would go to whichever candidate fielded the most cross-party appeal, but if we're honest, after the beating that Obama took in March and April, I think that person is John McCain. But if the strength of numbers that the Democrats saw throughout the primary is any indication at all for the general election, then victory for a Democrat lies in uniting the party. I'll admit that I find the idea of all of the Hillary supporters that said they'd rather vote for McCain than Obama coming to their senses in November attractive, but with the amount of fervor and spleen that people have been venting in these past couple months, I don't think that I buy their posture as a bluff.