Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are like two heavy weight boxers determined to slug it out until the final round. Blows have been traded, and trash talk has abounded. Each candidate has declared that victory will eventually be theirs.
The reality is that except for a few ugly comments here and there, this battle has remained relatively free from most animosity. Little has been said that cannot be easily reconciled. The only real failure of unity will come if the nomination is still up in the air as the roll call starts at the convention.
This will mean that Clinton and Obama have not found a way to compromise in order to move the party forward. If this happens, the anger and division will run deep enough between them that it may not be resolved before the final run for the White House begins.
The likelihood of this happening is not very large. No matter how much Clinton and Obama may choose to spar with each other, it is not realistic to expect either of them to carry enough of a grudge to the convention to result in a lack of party unity. The Democrats cannot win the election with a divide house.
When push comes to shove, differences will be settled at the insistence of party leaders like Howard Dean. These powerful politicians will push hard to bring any divergent views into party conformity. When the dust settles, Obama and Clinton will stand side by side before cheering crowds and endorse whichever one is the candidate.
It is extremely probable that both of these people will ride into the sunset together as number one and two on the presidential ticket. With that pair leading the herd, there will be no room for disunity in the party ranks. A Clinton/Obama or Obama/Clinton ticket should be a force to be reckoned with.
In order to beat John McCain, the Democrats will need this type of unity. While he is not the best candidate that the Republicans have ever put on the ticket, he has shown enough resiliency to justify the Democrats best efforts to win. If Obama and Clinton can agree on one thing, it is their collective desire to see a Democrat back in the top seat in Washington.
Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama both agree on withdrawal from Iraq, efforts to improve the domestic economy, better health care options for United States Citizens, and a host of other issues. Their only disagreement comes on just how these issues should be approached. Unity should be a simple matter to achieve.
