Joan, your observations are valid. Hillary Clinton supportes in even greater numbers than Obama’s say they will not vote for Obama but McCain or stay home. Pundits say Obama supporters are more die hard democratics and will vote for Hillary if she gets the nod. I do think though whoever gets the nomination will have the support of all the elected democrats to do everything they can to reunite the party and get support for their candidate. Encouraged, my Republican husband says he cannot vote for McCain because he is so wrong on the issues and even though he does not like either HIllary or Obama he will vote for whoever is on the ballot.

“If she is the candidate, many African Americans, maybe most, and many other Democrats will either stay home or vote for McCain because they are so angry at her.” What is this based on? In every contest, Barack Obama has won 90% of the African American vote. In almost every contest, he has had trouble cracking 40% of the white working class vote, seniors and women. Pennsylvania was no different: Obama won 89% of the African American vote. But only 38% of the white vote. He lost white women by nearly 2-1. $12 million in advertising couldn’t change that. The Democratic voters who turned out in Pennsylvania were 59% women. According to Pennsylvania exit polls, via CNN, only 50% of Hillary supporters say they will vote for Obama if he gets the nod. Women are tired of being taken for granted.

Joan, I have to say the “unelectability” issue worries me, too. I may be an idealist, but I still believe the Dems. can pull off a win in November; however, the longer the campaign continues, the less likely that becomes. I am strongly supportive of Barack Obama for a plethora of reasons too long to list here. Suffice to say…I’m sick of the professional politicians who twist the truth to suit themselves, and I’m really tired of Bill and his rants. Obama offers a higher road. You should see all the young people in my community who are knocking on doors, making phone calls, raising money for Obama. It’s really thrilling to see them so engaged. OK, back to your question. If it weren’t such a critical time for the U.S., I’d say this is the healthiest, most fascinating campaign in my lifetime. But it needs to end, and soon, so we can get down to the business of opposing McCain. I think the next few primaries will tell the story, and hopefully, before Denver, we’ll have a good candidate we can all support. Of course, the answer is to have both Barack and Hillary on the same ticket, but they’d have to get beyond their words and differences to see the greater good for the country. One can hope.

Joan, this is exactly how i feel. I knew months ago that it was essential that these two GOOD AND WORTHY candidates find ways to cooperate and work in unison. It is not only for the good of the entire party, the country and our future but for the reality that the problems that will be inherited by any candidate are TOO BIG for only one person to handle. This is a time for men and women, whites and blacks, ALL AMERICANS, to come together and work for the FUTURE—the specialists who know how to solve problems need to be brought into a circle to create solutions—economy and the environment are just two of the HUGE problems we face. Hillary is great for domestic issues, Barack would be a force for realignment of our international relationships before they fray forever. We have never been at a lower point in our history nor had more potential. Democracy is not ONE candidate but ALL of us pitching in to do our part. When will this couple realize its TIME TO STOP INFIGHTING and go after the real enemies—the warmongers and MAKE PEACE WORK IN OUR TIME and then solve the hunger of people for food, health, education and YES! Sesame Street—I approved the first grant on the proposal you submitted to the Office of Education in 1967 and have been a fan ever since. How can we apply the truth on the street to the problems of the two candidates fighting among themselves. This is not about campaign contributions but about COHESION AND COOPERATION. Working together they could be REAL LEADERS AND BRING EVERYONE TOGETHER. THAT IS MY HOPE. ANYONE ELSE AGREE??

Six months ago it seemed Hillary had a lock on the nomination. Don’t fail to take into account that a lot can happen inside the next six months and, given the policies set into motion by the Republicans, we can safely predict that things will only get worse, making the Democratic candidate look increasingly attractive, even for racists or misogynists as the case may be. I feel very optimistic that the next president will be Democratic.

Joan, I would agree with you, except I’ve seen time and again that the american electorate has the memory of a hungover gnat. There’s going to be so much blood under the bridge between now and November, and I remain worried about this “show trial” of the people the Bush people indicted for 9/11 from Guantanamo recently. The other real worry is, as one friend mentioned often, the Damnocrats may have “shot their wad” and spent all the money fighting with each other. If either gets nominated and people in the other camp stay home, we have seen the end of the two-party system in the United States, because the GOP will use endless dirty tricks to destroy any new framework that comes forward. Thanks for this.

this is so sad. peggy noonan wrote in the wsj weeks ago; she said that the dems did not know what they had in obama, but the repubs sure did. he brought hope and the academic credentials and background to achieve same. hillary beat the **** out of him in pursuit of her trek for power. the ‘elitist’ accusations she hurled totally misconstrued his message and beliefs. she called a fund raiser a “closed door meeting,” for effect. he was asked at the calif fund raiser why he thought he was having trouble with the white voters… was it racism? he said no and went on to elucidate. he said that the people of pa were ‘bitter’ because gov’t wasn’t working for them anymore, they could not depend on the gov’t so they clung to the things they felt secure with, religion, guns, etc. he also felt that they were leery of outsiders. i am originally from pa. everything he said is true. he meant it in the most thoughtful of ways and she turned it into elitism and labeled him for the repubs. not far from where my mother lives someone that comes from another county is referred to as an ouschtlander sp?[coming from away.] btw, that is not a typo… it is county not country. her reticence to answer honestly[obfuscation was one of her majors]when asked if she thought he was a muslim and she knew full well that he was not a muslim. i believe it was steve croft who posed the question for 60 minutes. he had to ask her over and over in order to get a semi direct answer. these are attacks on obama that are in no way reflective of who he is or what he believes in, and yet she persists. her negatives are very high so what does she care? at this point i believe that she is jeopardizing not only obama and the entire democratic party but also, her senate seat and political career.