Dividing the Democratic Party

Apparently former Democratic presidential candidate Chris Dodd has announced that the Democratic Party should declare a candidate before the caucuses finish. He also believes that this candidate should be Obama.

To some extent, I can agree with him. His reasoning is that the Democratic Party has become very divisive in the past couple of months and will only continue to worsen. I would definitely agree with this assumption (I believe my first post on this blog was centered on my irritation at the bickering between Obama and Clinton). I hope that the current relationship between Obama and Clinton won’t last the entire process of the caucuses, but I guess that no one really knows. I can only assume that things will become even more aggressive as the Democratic convention grows nearer in the same way that Clinton became more aggressive as Obama caught up to her lead. A poll by CNN showed as many as 16% of polled Democratic voters saying that they would not vote in the 2008 election if their chosen candidate isn’t picked (whether that candidate is Obama or Clinton). This is rather alarming for, although it probably has some errors and is only accurate as to people’s current beliefs, it seems to be a fairly accurate representation of how things stand. I mean, after all, how different are Obama and Clinton from each other? Yes, they obviously have some different ideas and their supporters would be quick to find them. But they’re both moderate Democrats who are going after similar ideals, just in slightly different ways. Is this enough to keep you at home? Is it really better to just pout and sulk in a corner?

At any rate, I do see Dodd’s point in his reasoning; this constant bickering has become destructive. However, I don’t think that the answer is to claim that Obama is obviously a shoe-in for the presidential candidate when the race is so close. I also do not agree with the idea that we should completely disregard the states that have yet to vote in a caucus and just pick. That is entirely against the caucus system and would most likely lead to an even more divided party than before.