Is It Time To Consolidate?

Not only is Barack Obama a popular and impressive candidate, but it looks like his campaign understands the "game" behind getting delegates.

This gives me more comfort that the team he'll bring to a presidency has done its homework and is willing to learn before or as it goes.

The article characterizes things this way:

"There was a myth at the center of the Clinton campaign, the idea that she and her husband, the former president, had a nationwide organization ready to knock on every door in America. Not so. The Clintons had many friends, but no organization. Bill and Hillary were always top-down, media candidates."

So, when the opposing campaigns (McCain and Clinton) have described Obama as "elitist" in the past couple of weeks, we should realize that the early behavior of the Clinton campaign was "It's my time; working for votes is not required." That sounds pretty elitist, or at least presumptive.

In any case, the longer this fight goes on, the softer the Clinton support seems. Almost every Hillary supporter will jump happily to Obama, though I think the reverse is not quite as clear. The Obama team may not have "won" the big states, but they did well enough to get plenty of delegates, and they clearly have an organization that is poised to compete throughout the country.

Recent polls are showing McCain neck-and-neck with Obama, and ahead of Clinton. The Democrats need to consolidate very soon to give the country a candidate who can focus on clarifying the real issues -- the reasons he should be elected over McCain.