Stealing the shine

For supporters of Barack Obama, and for Democrats everywhere, last night should have been a night of unbridled excitement. And today should be one in which we bask in the glow of our new nominee, mentally preparing ourselves for the psychological warfare of the upcoming campaign against John McCain. And, without a doubt, I do feel very excited to have Obama as the nominee and, hopefully, the next president. But it is undeniable that Clinton's persistent foot-dragging has rendered the end of the primary somewhat anticlimactic, and that's really a shame.

I guess we could find some good in it. During the first year of law school, all the new students are required to write what's called the "open memo" in the middle of the first semester. It would be our first real grade, and, for most of us, it was our first piece of legal writing ever. After a grueling couple of weeks working on the thing, the deadline passed, everyone had turned in their memo, and there was a raging Tuesday night party that rendered some incapacitated for the next day's classes. A particularly tough professor, in explaining why she would expect all of us to be alert on that next day and would not excuse any absenses, explained that the all-out party was the equivalent of a football team bringing the crowd out of the stands and tearing down the goal post after the first touchdown. The point being: you've still got a long ways to go; you haven't really earned a celebratory release yet; celebrate now and you'll underappreciate the challenge ahead. And I suppose the same thing could be said for the Democratic nomination: Obama's won a tough battle, but the war against McCain is likely to be far more bloody, so let's not congratulate ourselves yet.

Even still, we need momentum and enthusiasm to spare going into the general election, and Hillary's foot-dragging deprived us of the out-and-out pep rally-like celebration that Obama deserved and needed. I wrote before about how her persistence is rallying a base of anti-Obama fringe Democrats, which truly threatens to undermine his chances in the general. There are many reasons that I hope Obama does not choose Clinton as his running mate, but Hillary's bad sportsmanship at this stage has, unfortunately, fomented my feelings that I do not want her around to taint my grand enthusiasm for Obama. Here's to hoping that she hasn't damaged the campaign too severely, and we can have something to truly celebrate in November.