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Hillary Clinton's "Red State Primaries Don't Matter Much" Claim is bad for the Democratic Party.
The new voters that Obama has drawn into the Democratic Primaries across the country are voters that may not have voted for any other candidate. For instance, young people have been inspired and motivated by Barack Obama and voted for him.
Likewise, Hillary Clinton has inspired many people, notably traditional Democrats.
The debate rests on this point: People who Obama inspires to vote may not vote for another candidate, especially one who, in an attempt to win the nomination herself, questions the integrity of the candidate whom they support. Hillary's supporters, like noted above, are consistently voting Democrats and will most likely vote for Obama if he is the nominee.
Bottom line is this:
If Obama is nominated, he keeps the new voters who he has inspired, many of whom are youth and independents - people who we can recruit into the Party permanently. He will also get the support of the traditional Party establishment who trend to have voted for Hillary. With Obama you get the his supporters PLUS most Hillary supporters.
If Hillary is nominated, it will most likely be because of the Super-delegate vote. This will most likely alienate those Obama supporters who are already alienated by the political system and see Obama as someone who can rise above that corrupt system. If the system undermines his candidacy, these Obama supporters, mostly young people, may be lost to the Democratic Party forever. Hillary will sustain her support, but not pick up much additional support from this new voting block.
Lastly, looking down-ticket, an Obama nomination will better benefit the Party as a whole. Hillary is to the Republican party, conservatives and moderates alike, what Bush was to the Republicans in '04. "ANYBODY BUT HILLARY!" Currently, the conservative base of the GOP has yet to fully embrace a McCain nomination. The best way to motivate them to work for a McCain campaign is to nominate Hillary Clinton. We have a better chance of winning our down-ticket races by having the alienated GOP voters stay home, than by motivating them to get to he polls with a Clinton candidacy.
Those are my thoughts... Responses?
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