Running on Ugly

It seems even the Easter weekend couldn't stop the Clinton and Obama campaigns from going after each other. From Judas to Joe McCarthy, accusations were hurled, the offended reacted, and hopefully, no permanent damage was done to the eventual nominee. It's now reached critical mass. Not a day goes by when media aren't speculating about who can get the delegates, popular votes, etc. Suddenly, the landscape has changed.

You may notice there's a steady move away from media calling the April 22nd Pennsylvania primary make or break for either candidate. The goal posts are moving. Now people are talking about the cumulative impact of Pennsylvania, Indiana, and North Carolina. The latter two hold their primaries on May 7th. To use the hated sports metaphor, a one and done has become a best of three.

It remains too early to say which of these two, Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama will eventually become the Democratic Party standard bearer. It's not too early to ask how the party will heal the wounds dealt during this campaign. In many cases, the wounds are deep (ask Carville and Richardson). They cannot and should not be allowed to fester.

What we are experiencing is the result of having two candidates without massive differences on policy face off late into the primary season. If your differences on healthcare come down to mandates, maybe it shouldn't be a surprise things got personal.

Fact is, however, this can't go on too much longer.