Hang in there, Barack and Hillary

By Weekly Archive On Apr 2, 2008

You
might call it Press’ First Rule of Politics: The longer you’re inside
the Beltway, the more disconnected you are from the real world. And
nothing proves it more than the current whining about how harmful
this year’s continuing primary is to the Democratic Party.

You’ll
notice that most complaints about the primary come, not from real
Americans, but from talking heads on television: – 90 percent of whom
live inside the Beltway, and 95 percent of whom are incapable of
thinking for themselves and merely echo what other gasbags have to
say.

It’s
ironic that those complaining about the Democratic primary’s taking
too long are the same bloviators who were complaining, only a few
months ago, that the party’s nominee would be decided too early. At
least they’re consistent. They were wrong then and they’re wrong now.

But
it’s hardly the first time the media intelligentsia have been
hopelessly out of touch with reality. During the Monica Lewinsky
scandal, Washington’s sanctimonious talking heads demanded that Bill
Clinton resign the presidency. Meanwhile, out in the heartland, a
majority of Americans said he should hang in there and fight.

We’re
seeing the same disconnect today. Inside the Beltway, most pundits
are demanding that Hillary Clinton quit the primary because Barack
Obama’s ahead in delegates. Besides, they argue, Democrats are
worried that the long primary is irreparably damaging the Democratic
party.

Nonsense.
Once again, the chattering class is living in its own world. It’s not
true that Democrats are sick and tired of the primary. According to
the latest Rasmussen poll, only 22 percent of Democrats believe that
Hillary Clinton should abandon the race. Curiously enough, the same
number, 22 percent, believe Barack Obama should drop out. Meanwhile,
62 percent of all Democrats want the primary to continue until
there’s a clear winner. Most Americans, in other words, get what the
Washington elite doesn’t: You don’t call the game at halftime just
because one team’s ahead.

Nor
is there any evidence that the unusually lengthy primary is damaging
the Democratic Party. In fact, it’s just the opposite. Starting in
Iowa, Democrats have come back to life with a vengeance. The Iowa
Democratic caucus attracted a record 227,000 voters — many of them
first-time and young voters. That was almost twice the Republican
turnout. And that outburst of enthusiasm has continued in every
state.

In
Ohio, as reported by Dan Balz in The Washington Post, 2.2 million
voters turned out for the Democratic primary, compared to only 1.1
million Republicans. Voter participation in Texas was equally
lopsided: 2.9 million Democrats vs. 1.4 million Republicans.

And
the excitement has kept growing with each additional primary. When
registration for the April 22 Pennsylvania primary closed on March
24, state officials announced that Democrats had set a new record for
either party: over 4 million registered voters. Leading up to the
primary, Democrats added 161,000 new voters, while Republicans lost
almost 60,000. The same pattern is being observed in North Carolina,
Indiana and other states with upcoming primaries.

There
are only two reasons for that newfound energy: Barack Obama and
Hillary Clinton. They’re providing us with the most exciting primary
contest in our lifetime, and the end result will be extremely
advantageous to Democrats. Whenever it’s over, and whoever wins,
Democrats will have built a ground operation in every state,
including states and congressional districts they never bothered to
campaign in before. And Democrats will have created a huge new
historic pool of dedicated voters to help propel them to victory.

When
will either Obama or Clinton lock down the nomination? Who knows? But
whether it’s Puerto Rico in June or Denver in August, there will
still be plenty of time to unite the party against John McCain. All
those newly energized Democrats are not going to go away quietly.
They will quickly rally to prevent a man from reaching the White
House who would simply deliver the third Bush presidency.

So
far, so good. Unless it gets really, really ugly — which neither
Clinton nor Obama will allow — the Democratic primary of 2008 is not
hurting the Democratic Party. It’s the best thing that has ever
happened to the Democratic Party. Let every state vote!

Bill
Press is host of a nationally syndicated radio show and author of a
new book, "How
the Republicans Stole Religion." You
can hear "The Bill Press Show" at billpressshow.com. His
email address is: bill@billpress.com. His Web site is:
www.billpress.com.