Democratic Party Unity

You know, everywhere I look these days I find stories about the disunity of the Democratic Party. Will Bill and Hillary (no last names needed) fully support the Obama-Biden ticket? Will Hillary's supporters get over their mad and support their party's nominee? Will the Democratic Party unite this time around?

I'm reminded of a quote attributed to the humorist Will Rogers, who was the Jon Stewart of the Twenties and Thirties: "I belong to no organized political party; I'm a Democrat."

Democratic Party unity is not the issue and won't be the issue on election day. The economy and race will be the defining issues of this campaign. If Obama can keep his campaign focused on the economy, where the polls say the electorate trusts the Democrats more than they trust the Republicans, he has a chance to win. In a normal election, he would win.

Let's face it, when it comes to security, national or otherwise, people look to their personal finances first. Do I have a job? How secure is my job? How secure are my savings? How good and how secure is my health care when I need it? These issues far outweigh the threat of terrorism in our land, and both parties should know this.

However, if the issue is, becomes, or remains (depending on your point of view) can I trust Obama as my President, then he'll have a hard time winning. And the fundamental key to that trust issue is Obama's race and his weird name. (I'm sorry, but to most of white America Barack Obama is a weird name.)

For him to win, he majority of white America has to see that their economic interests are more important to them than their fear of a black President.