Herndon L. Davis, Guest Commentary
Despite last week’s increasingly louder calls for Senator Hillary Clinton to bow out of the presidential race by media pundits and politicians alike, it is best for America that Mrs. Clinton remain in the race, push forward and win the nomination.
Much has been publicly stated of how Senator Clinton cannot mathematically secure the democratic nomination with her pledged delegates and how this will not change even if she wins the majority of races going forward. Her ability to sway the super-delegates as well as other pledged delegates in the states where she has won will be her only route to the head of the ticket.
Well surprise, the exact same scenario also exists for Sen. Barack Obama as well. In fact both candidates are sitting in the same boat heading in the same direction; to Denver .
So why call for Sen. Clinton to bow out of the race and not Sen. Obama? Thus far the only reason being offered up by Obama supporters and by gushing Obama-leaning journalists is that Clinton is 1st runner up in a political beauty pageant in terms of delegates and overall popular vote.
This reasoning is faulty for two reasons.
In November its Winner-Take-All Not Proportion Basis
Unlike the GOP’s winner take all process, the Democratic Party employs an outdated proportion system to allocate delegates that candidates win from individual state primaries and caucuses.
If the winner-take-all system were used by the democrats, Senator Clinton would be the nominee and Obama would be the loser. But even more important are the electoral votes at stake in a winner-take-all process in the fall. Obama’s strength has in part been because of his ability to manipulate if not exploit the Democratic Party’s weak link in nominating the head of its ticket.
Further, much of his popular vote lead can be traced back to “red” states which will probably remain “red” in the fall and from independent voters who will be party aligned in the November.
At this point Obama will no longer be able to rely on the Democratic Party’s primary and caucus technicalities for his relative success. Further, the black vote will be much less significant as most black registered voters are democrats. Thus for the very first time, Obama will be forced to run a national campaign where big electoral rich states like Ohio , Florida , Texas really matter. These are the very same states he has not been able to win during the democratic nominating process but will need to if he intends to become the next American president.
Bottom line the presidential election is all about the electoral votes, the more the better until you hit the magic number of 270. To date Obama has not demonstrated during the democratic primary and caucus process that he has the potential or the ability to win many electoral heavy states against Senator John McCain.
The Valedictorian Vs. The Jock
I liken the Clinton-Obama political saga to what many of us witnessed as children in junior high and high schools. Typically the smarter more dedicated students who ran for student government and other social positions were out-voted by the athletic jock or the prettier more popular but extremely shallow student.
In many instances the head of the class, the student body, and the prom king and queen were positions held not by the brainiest ones who could actually make things happen but instead they were held by students who were more popular based upon their looks, athletic abilities and coolness factor.
I compare Senator Clinton to the dedicated smart kid while I liken Sen. Obama to the cool and popular kid. In reality Obama is both cool and smart and an Ivy league educated lawyer. However, as a politician, Obama is a philosophical thinker, not a strategic one; therein lies the crucial difference between him and Sen. Clinton.
Is America better suited by an awe-inspiring, philosophical orator or instead is it better benefited by a strategic, experienced doer? My bet is on the latter.
If the goal of the Democratic Party is to take back the White House this simply cannot be done with Sen. Obama at the head of the ticket. As much as I would love to cast my vote for an African American candidate I can not in good conscious support a candidate solely because he is black anymore than I would support a candidate solely because she is a woman.
I believe that it is best for America that a strong leader rise to the top of the democratic ticket and secure the oval office; not just a popular one. I believe it is best for America that a highly experienced national politician with seasoned thoughts and a skilled execution is able to calmly and adeptly answer a 3 am crisis call and not fumble the situation because of insecurity and lack of foreign policy experience.
I believe it is best for America that we elect a president based upon intellect and experience and not just style and sound bites of “yes we can.” America needs solutions not slogans. America needs direction not political rock concerts America needs a leader not a leader-in-training. Hence, America needs Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
As a proud African American man, I proudly support Sen. Clinton for president because I firmly believe her substance and experience is what is best for America .
Herndon L. Davis is an author, lecturer, and TV/Radio Host. He can be reached directly at herndon@herndondavis.com
