Beacon Street Journal

Despite being outspent by Obama 2 to 1, Hillary took Pennsylvania last night by a comfortable margin. Her victory wasn’t the death-knell blowout that many have suggested she needs to sway a majority of undecided super-delegates to her side, but it clearly was sufficient for her to soldier on as Obama continued to struggle with traditional blue-collar Democratic constituencies. He will be similarly challenged in Indiana and Missouri. So the indefatigable, robotic Hillary will plod on, with an unrestrained, unleashed and defiant Mr. Narcissism in tow. He may sully Obama, but the damage he will continue to inflict on his wife will be irreparable, come the general election. And here is a dirty little secret: despite the wailing from cable TV commentators, Democratic party officials and liberal journalists to the effect that Hillary should withdraw to stop the intra-party bloodbath, most Democratic voters want the contest to continue to the bitter end.

For Republicans, the continuing internecine Democratic conflict, with all its attendant deleterious ramifications is the gift that keeps giving. As the Democrats personal attacks intensify and become increasingly bitter, the Republicans are gleeful as these unflattering characterizations will be replayed endlessly with telling effect, all the more so since these disparaging remarks are not the product of the vast right wing noise machine, but rather, have fallen from the lips of fellow Democrats. As the circular firing squad forms, many astute Democrats now realize that the party has put forth two extremely vulnerable candidates with glaring deficiencies.

The Democratic Party is reaping the winds of the perfect storm they unwittingly created with their nearly three decade fascination with the politics of race and gender. It wasn’t supposed to be this way, of course. The plan was that the gender gods were to be satisfied first, through the vehicle of Hillary’s inevitable and historic candidacy, and then, eventually, the mantle would be passed to a person “of color.” There was no sense of urgency for a candidate who embodied the party’s racial pretensions, as blacks as a voting bloc, had nowhere else to go. Now however, due to Obama’s unprecedented and unforeseen ascendancy, a question of primacy has arisen: in the identity politics sweepstakes, does race trump gender or vice-versa?

The Democrats’ Sherman-through-Atlanta candidate, Hillary, who is now vilified for wreaking havoc on the party, is an unsavory product of their own creation. In their lust to  to retain political power at all costs, the party sold their souls in the 90’s by enabling a unscrupulous and venal power couple to defile the Presidency and corrupt the political process with their unparalleled mendacity. And why the pretend shock at the profanity and dissembling of Bubba? He is the same old Bill the party ruthlessly defended when he occupied the Oval Office. The only thing that has changed, is that instead of an ally, the Obama-besotted press is now the object of his finger-wagging fury. For the remainder of the contest, much to the chagrin of his former enablers, Bill Clinton will not be muzzled, he will not be restrained. The damage he will continue to inflict on Obama as well as the party will be severe and long-lasting. Should Hillary survive, the country will reel at the prospect of sending this dissembling duo back to despoil, yet again, the sacred Office of the Presidency.  

For Obama, the Pennsylvania defeat makes it increasingly clear that his candidacy can’t seem to break-out of his comfort zone of blacks, upper-income whites and young people. Exit polling from Pennsylvania confirmed this very unpleasant truth. Obama fared very poorly among those who were the objects of his gratuitous, insulting and elitist comments. In his acknowledgment speech last night, he once again attempted to insulate himself from any scrutiny by proclaiming questions related to his character, associations and judgment as off-limitsas they are mere “distractions” from the real issues. But, Obama is delusional if he thinks John McCain and the Republicans will oblige him. By canceling the North Carolina debate, Obama simply demonstrated that his candidacy cannot withstand close examination. As he labors on in Indiana, his glass-jaw is increasingly becoming dangerously exposed.

For the moment, the Republicans can sit back enjoy this two-for-one matinee performance, and revel in the entertainment value of the spectacle.