There’s a lot of talk about reconciliation and how long it is going to take to put things back together so that we have a united party. I could write a really long piece about the subject, but I’m tired. So I just want to focus on two points. First, we have the ravings of Taylor Marsh, which is really representative of a subset of the Democratic Party coalition.

Could you be more out of touch? Seriously. Have you not talked to any Hillary Clinton supporters, read their emails in your inbox?

For 4 lousy delegates? How small are you people? Could you not understand what was swirling enough to allow Clinton her due in Michigan? Four lousy delegates?

You have no idea what you’ve done. The fury you have unleashed. Your arrogance is topped only by your ignorance and the sheer stupidity of this “compromise,” which sends a message that you just don’t get it. Oh, and by the way, you’ve also likely just thrown the 2008 election.

Taking myself out of the equation, as well as my support for Clinton which is unending, and to encapsulte the carnage wrought by Saturday’s idiocy, you have simply given Hillary’s supporters the reason they were craving. Outraged already, many of Hillary’s supporters were waiting for a reason to raise a ruckus, and you just gave them one. A righteous one. They were already screaming for Clinton to go to Denver. Now the decibel level is ear shattering.
“McCain will be the next president…”
…”Two winners in 40 years.”

Over 4 delegates?

Look, let’s call this what it is: insanity.

I don’t really know if Ms. Marsh believes what she’s writing or not. But if she doesn’t, and she’s willing to feed other’s insanity with this tripe, and she actually cares about her reproductive rights, then that qualifies as its own form of insanity.

Encouraging this kind of grudge-holding with this measly set of lies is dangerous and, in this case, it’s self-destructive. We all know that the rules committee just handed Clinton five net delegates from Michigan after promising Obama that the contest would not count. Even taking his name off the ballot wasn’t enough to protect him from this injustice. And he had the votes on the committee to get an even split of the delegates and turned it down. Why did he turn it down? Well…one interpretation is that he turned it down as an act of magnanimity, so that there would be a larger margin in favor of the decision, and as a gesture of good will. The other interpretation is that if he went along with calling the primary valid in any way, the Clintons would insist on counting the popular vote. But they’re doing that anyway. Taylor has inverted the entire meaning of the decision on Michigan. Why are the Clintons throwing a tantrum over 4 lousy delegates? Why did Obama have to suffer any disadvantage at all after the Rules Committee promised him that the primary would not count?

So…this is raving insanity on Taylor’s part that just fans the flames of resentment in a mean and dishonest way. Yet, I’m not all that concerned. First, I really believe that we are in a realigning election. And a realigning election is, by definition, an election where the coalitions flip or change around. Older white women have been a solid Democratic constituency in most of the country for a long time. If this election finds them voting for McCain it will also find tons of economic and foreign policy Republicans, independents, young voters, and Hispanics voting for Obama. Black turnout will be historic.

But, second, it is a long, long time until November. And when we get to late October, people are going to be thinking a lot more about the pain and frustration of the last eight years than they will be about the pain and frustration of the last six months. People will want a totally clean break with the Bush administration and McCain doesn’t provide that. Most Democrats will come home.

Now I don’t want to make it seem like I’m welcoming older white women to vote for McCain or that I don’t care about their concerns. There are a few racists that I’d like to show the door, but they’re a special case. For most of Clinton’s staunchest supporters, they just like their candidate and/or have a strong emotional investment in seeing a female president in their lifetime. They need someone that has been on their side in this campaign…someone like Taylor Marsh…to talk them down and help them realize that Obama won this nomination fair and square. Yes, he had a few lucky breaks. Yes, he mastered the procedure and got more delegates per vote and per dollar spent. Yes, he had certain advantages because he’s a man. Yes, the press was at times unfair to Clinton. But Obama didn’t cheat, he didn’t suppress any votes, and he was actually unfairly penalized when Florida and Michigan’s delegates were seated after Obama was promised that they wouldn’t count. That he wasn’t penalized enough to sway the election, that he couldn’t be penalized enough to lose the election, is not a mark against the legitimacy of his victory.

Obama played rough at times in this election and he got away with it. But politics ain’t beanbag and no one plays tougher than the Clintons. That is part of what their supporters like about them and makes them believe they can win the general election. So it shouldn’t be a big concern that Obama knows how to play rough, too. That he does it with no fingerprints just points up his high skill level. People like Taylor Marsh should be telling her readers these things, but she’s telling them the opposite. And it isn’t going to serve any good purpose. No one is going to listen to me. But they’ll listen to Hillary and they’ll listen to Hillary’s supporters that have been fighting for her tooth and nail.

I hope they do so because I want these voters in the Democratic coalition where they belong. Most of them, anyway.