A conservative friend of mine (and fellow pundit) wrote to me and posed this query:Elephants [Republicans] – can’t find a candidate and there hasn’t been a front runner to this point…opinions are shifting all over the place and there hasn’t been a clear winner yet. Who knows who it will be in the long run…but not many Republicans are bickering among other Republicans because for the most part…we can deal and like most of the candidate (exit Romney in my case). Could we unite behind a candidate once they are picked despite the “fluidity” among the candidates. Jackasses (or Donkeys) [Democrats] – united strongly behind a Obama or Hillary and right now…the racism comments and MTP [Meet The Press] segments with her are showing a true divde among her and Obama…and possibly among their supporters. Could they not rally behind the other candidate in the long run if this campaign between Clinton and Obama gets even more heated?
Could we see a split in the Dems and a Unification of the Republicans once the nominee is picked…I don’t know. But I will tell you there are a LOT of Democrats who DON’T LIKE HILLARY and could either NOT vote or SWITCH over to an independent thinker like McCain (or even Rudy…Huckabee has a lot to overcome on that side of the aisle).
Thoughts?
Well gee-willikers - where do I begin?
I guess that I would have to start by saying - wow, that's a very interesting proposition. Interesting indeed.
I think that my friend may be onto something here. It seems that all of the political news stories today are centered around the idea that Hillary Clinton (and her surrogates) have been trying to push the "drug angle" against Barack Obama. In addition, the comments that the junior senator from New York made about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his impact on the civil rights movement (or what appeared to have been comments about his pseudo-impact) have also angered many people. On the flip-side of the coin, the Obama campaign has come under criticism from Clinton supporters for "playing the race card". Either way, the point is that there are very ardent supporters of both campaigns - of that there is no doubt. Where there IS some doubt is whether or not an Obama supporter would endorse Hillary Clinton - were she to get the Democratic nomination - or vice-versa.
It seems that the Democratic party is somewhat split over these two candidates - which could mean some very bad news when it comes to a general election. However, I don't fully agree with my friend's assessment of the GOP side of the ticket.
Sure, Hillary and Obama are slugging it out in the polls right now, but so are their Republican counterparts. I have seen countless stories about how social conservatives would never support (the very liberal) Rudy Giuliani (or Romney for that matter) - so much so that there has even been talk of a third-party conservative candidate to represent the Evangelical movement of conservatives. Also, there are many fiscal conservatives who are seemingly disenfranchised with Mike Huckabee - based on his record as governor of Arkansas. I won't even get into the confusion and dissolution that Dr. Ron Paul causes within his own party.
So, it seems to me that while there is a growing rift in the Democratic party, there is also quite a sizable ravine that has already been in place for the Republicans.
I think that the bottom line is this; whichever party can most easily bridge it's respective gap (and get the majority of the independent vote) will emerge as the victor this November.
Snoogans.
The Pajama Pundit - Founder/Editor
