Obama Vs. Hillary: Will This Battle Ruin the Democrats' Chance?

Never have I seen the battle for a nomination be so close and heated. Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton are working non-stop, fighting for each delegate like its the last. Obama even campaigned in the Virgin Islands and was able to collect their 3 delegates. That's right...3. When you need over 2,000 to win the nomination, 3 wouldn't seem like much, but in this election every delegate counts. With several states changing their primary voting dates, we were able to have Super Tuesday which did nothing more than heat up the Democratic race that much more. And after Obama collected 4 more states and most recently, Maine, Obama has taken the delegate lead. But then there are the Super Delegates which are in Clinton's favor. So if everything is added up, Clinton has the lead by under 50 delegates.

Here comes the big question. Currently, Obama actually has the lead in the popular vote. What kind of unrest would occur in the Democrat party if Clinton was to win the nomination without receiving more of the popular vote? American voters felt jilted after the 2004 election when President Bush lost the popular vote but won the election. Now this might just happen in their own party nomination. How ironic would that be?

Talk is how McCain must unite the Republicans, but if this battle continues on until the end, think of the issues for the Democrats. First, they are spending money like crazy. Clinton just added $5 million of her own money and continues to ask for more financial support. Obama had raised over $6 million since Super Tuesday. With each day the fight continues, their money is being split between the 2 candidates and being spent trying to just get to the big dance. Meanwhile, McCain has already begun to raise money for the Presidential Election. His nomination is almost guaranteed. McCain is like a NFL playoff team with a first round bye. He can sit back, watch the teams abuse each other and start strategizing for his run.

The second thing is how long can someone campaign for without breaking down. The 2 Democrats are going non-stop. Their battle will continue for months more while McCain can rest. The Democrats might not have nothing left in the tank by the time the real elections come. If their battle continues, they might look worn on TV and in their speeches while McCain could look a lot stronger. Even though the Democrats are both much younger, people only have so much energy.

It would behoove the Democrats to figure out their candidate sooner rather than later. The longer it gets dragged out, the more it will end up hurting their chances in November. Everyone continues to talk about the Republican party being split, but this election process has not done anything to help the Democrats in coming together. They too will have to repair relations with not just their constituents, but the people as well. And if this fight goes to the end, they may not have enough time to do so.