Our Time Has Come

5 months (and nearly 500 president-related posts later) after the mostly black voters in Iowa trudged through the snow covered farms to go out and vote for Barack Obama, there is a light at the end of the tunnel for the Democratic civil war known as the primary.

Over 36 million voters will have gone to the polls, and depending on how you count the votes, either candidate will lead in the 'popular vote' by less than a 1% margin.

With 99% of precincts reporting, Obama leads in pledged delegates 52-48%.

At the end of April, Democrats had raised nearly $535,758,667 in individual contributions and spent $499,807,385 of it.

This has been the campaign of a lifetime, and has been exhausting from the perspective of a spectator and occasional participant; I can only imagine what its been like for the thousands of staffers and volunteers who have been grinding it out for the past year and a half, only to have 5 more months of it to look forward to if you are on the winning campaign.

Unfortunately this long, costly, at some times invigorating and at other times demoralizing campaign, has left the party fractured; not over ideological grounds as was the case in many previous primaries, but over demographic lines. Whether we'll end up coming back together after this primary is anyone's guess. I'm of the mind that Obama should do whatever he can to facilitate this, and if that means asking Hillary to be his VP, then so be it.

In many ways this primary reminds me of the 2004 American League Playoff Series between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. It was probably won of the most memorable series in baseball history (Sox came back after 3 game losing streak to win series 4-3), and the World Series to follow seemed almost inconsequential in comparison. Of course, this doesn't mean that the Democrats should take anything for granted, despite every conceivable piece of historically comparable data showing this is a Democratic year to retake the White House; but all the same, tonight will be the start of the final chapter to many historical recounts of this primary that are yet to come.

Personally, I've made some new friends because of this election, had some great experiences, learned some new things, and overall I am proud to be a Democrat, and proud to have backed Barack Obama from the beginning, and look back to my statement on January 16th 2007, and I think I have so far proven to be right.

When I see and hear Obama, I feel that tide beginning to change. He's not the textbook candidate, he doesn't come from a political aristocracy, he doesn't poll test everything he says; for these reasons, the punditocarcy will give him no chance, they'll deride him as too fresh, and they'll scoff at his willingness to speak openly and honestly. Luckily for Obama, the punditocracy is a very small portion of the electorate, and so long as he stays refreshingly honest, I firmly believe the American people will see what I see...Hope.

Update:

As Sharon Cobb points out, the AP is reporting that no matter what happens in the primaries tonight, Barack Obama will have reached the magic number of 2,118 delegates to secure the nomination. It should be a powerful night of speeches, so get your popcorn.

Also, Hillary is publicly open to being VP...which means Obama will have to find one helluva VP choice, or catch hell if he doesn't pick her. Her biggest obstacle to becoming the Vice Presidential nominee is her husband Bill who is one of the most prolific politicians, but also one of the least disciplined. The latest evidence being that he essentially blamed Obama for Father Pflager's outburst in church, as if Barack Obama had anything to gain from him attacking Hillary in his church.