What Will the Democrats Do – and When?

I read an article March 23 in the Washington Post about the upcoming primary in Pennsylvania, where I was born and raised. I feel one man interviewed pretty much summed up things in that state by suggesting that “Some of these people still believe the woman should be home taking care of the baby, and they are not going to vote for a black.” So, who are these democrats going to vote for in November?

Will they vote for McCain, the Republican, instead of the Democratic nominee because they can’t bear to vote for a black or a woman? Will their prejudices overshadow their core values and beliefs in health care, the economy, the environment and the Iraq war – in other words, the issues? Will they decide voting for someone because of their race or gender is more important than a candidate’s platform?

If registered Democrats don’t elect McCain, the Democratic Party, Obama, Clinton and their campaigns may. McCain is off and running his campaign gathering momentum, strength and support each day while Clinton and Obama continue to squabble and attack each other. McCain doesn’t have to conduct a negative campaign; the democratic candidates are doing that for him. He can just sit back and reap the benefits.

What was up with Florida and Michigan breaking the primary rules? What did they think they were accomplishing by having their primaries so early and now they have to pay the consequences – their delegations won’t be seated at the Democratic Convention. Will the residents of these 2 states become disenfranchised voters?

And what about those superdelegates? Who are they going to support, when, and more, important, who should they support? Will they wait until the Democratic Convention to decide or will they commit earlier. Democratic strategist Bill Carrick believes that "Either the superdelegates end it in June or Democrats will self-destruct in August in Denver."

When the Democrats finally have a candidate for the upcoming presidential election, will it be too late to assemble campaign teams and garner the support and resources necessary to win the election? Will Democrats be so bitter and demoralized after their National Convention, that they won’t support the Democratic nominee?

The question du jour seems to be which Democratic candidate has the better chance of defeating McCain and by the sentiment illustrated above and the topsy, turvy status of the Democratic Party, it may be neither.