Vice President Clark?

Could Wes Clark be our next vice president?

Before I answer, in the interest of full disclosure I must admit that I supported Wes Clark early in the 04 election cycle. I even volunteered at one of his local meetings.

With my bias, I was heartened to see Wes Clark challenging John McCain's national security credentials on Face the Nation recently. If you watch the interview, you realize that Wes Clark is uniquely qualified to take on John McCain on his one perceived strength, the military.

As a four-star general and NATO commander, Wes Clark has insights and experiences that just might outweigh McCain on the national security stage. Clark can say what many Democrats can't: Being a war hero won't necessarily make you a good commander in chief.

Detractors might point out that Wes Clark doesn't have a natural constituency to bring along with him. He can't guarantee a swing state that Obama would need to win.

With Obama's 50 state strategy however, having strong national security credentials on the ticket might be more important than any one state.

This campaign is revealing McCain to be a one trick pony. If Obama/Clark can effectively pierce McCain's national security veil and take that horse from him, they just might be able to leave McCain on the side of the road.

More on Clinton's debt

Here's what I don't understand. If Hillary Clinton has these 18 million supporters who are so passionate, why aren't they helping retire her debt? Why did they allow her to go so far into the hole in the first place?

You hear them loudly complaining that Obama should help pay her bills. Where is their responsibility? There's 18 million of them. If each one sends in $1.25, that should more than do it.

Here's a message to the Hillary supporters. If you feel so strongly in her, put your money where your mouth is.

Clinton needs help with her debt

Hillary Clinton has a new video out asking for donations. She's still $20 million in debt, about half of that to herself, and if she doesn't repay it by August she loses that money.

So all you little boys with bikes and video games, you older Americans with pensions, all of you Appalachians living paycheck to paycheck, go to hillaryclinton.com, and give her back her $10 million.

So close but still so far to go?

I found this video buried at the bottom of an article that proclaims that 90 percent of whites were comfortable with a Black president.

With all our progress, there will always be those who still lag behind.

The audacity of nope

It's no less than amazing that the entire Democratic party has waited five days past the unofficial selection of a nominee to let Hillary Clinton finally accept what most people have known since the end of February -- that voters had the audacity to choose Barack Obama over her.

Much has been written about the strategy that allowed Barack Obama to rack up 11 straight wins in February and in the process, build an insurmountable lead. But the legendary No Surrender campaign told us that the 11 state sweep and 100 delegate lead didn't matter. Ohio and Texas were the states that were important. So we all waited for those two, and after she won the popular vote in both --and lost the delegates in Texas -- the basic math had not changed. Neither had the audacity.

We were told to look to Pennsylvania, to ignore caucus states, to count the censured Florida and Michigan, to focus only on the large states she won, to focus exclusively on the popular vote. And while we focused on the incredible morphing metrics, we conveniently overlooked that the delegate count remained insurmountable.

Superdelegates began eroding in March. A 100 plus superdelagate lead began dwindling to the point that it was completely erased. We settled the Michigan and Florida debacles. Networks began the delegate countdown clocks. And early Tuesday evening, virtually every news organization made it official, Barack Obama was the nominee.

Yet here we are five days later, waiting for Hillary to admit what has been general knowledge around the globe. The election was hers to lose, now, despite losing, she acts like it is hers to confer.

The audacity.

This was the moment

It's been a couple of days since Barack Obama's triumphant acceptance of the presumptive Democratic nomination, but I had to hear the speech one more time. This was the moment.

Amazing gracelessness

Imagine if after this year's Superbowl the New England Patriots had stayed on the field. Led by Tom Brady, they decided that they weren't quite ready to acknowledge the loss. They were in no rush to get off the field. They were going to huddle. Call another play or two and see how they felt.

Why shouldn't they? Over the course of the season, they had certainly performed better. They had won more games. They want to make sure that their season was fully appreciated by New York fans. They then invite Patriots fans to let them know what the fans think the team should do next. Until then, they would just wait on the field.

Sound ridiculous? That's the spectacle we are witnessing with Hillary Clinton.

After Barack Obama wrapped up the nomination last night, Hillary Clinton couldn't muster an acknowledgement. As late as today, Clinton's backers are still making the rounds on TV claiming that she shouldn't be rushed into acknowledging her loss.

The clock is out of time. The players have left the field. The stadium is emptying, and Clinton's team is still on the field calling plays.

Last night we expected to see a display of grace. What we got was a petty, self-serving speech. And to make matters worse, it was followed by an attempt to use the leverage of her voters to muscle her into the VP slot.

It would have been so easy to congratulate Obama and acknowledge the accomplishment of earning the nomination. That would not have precluded her from launching her VP campaign. Instead, holding out indefinitely is an amazing lack of grace. She can do better.

Since you asked: An open letter to Hillary Clinton

Dear Sen. Clinton, Tonight marked the end of the 2008 Democratic primary season and the landmark, epic battle between you and Sen. Obama. Tonight, after every contest has been held, and after every voice has been heard, a majority of states, voters, and party elders have selected Sen. Obama as the clear nominee.

In your speech, you asked your supporters to let you know what you should do next:

Now the question is, where do we go from here, and given how far we've come and here we need to go as a party, it's a question I don't take lightly. This has been a long campaign, and I will be making no decisions tonight. But this has always been your campaign, so to the 18 million people who voted for me and to our many other supporters out there of all ages, I want to hear from you. I hope you'll go to my website at HillaryClinton.com and share your thoughts with me and help in any way that you can.

Well, I am not one of the "18 million" people who voted for you, but since you asked, I'd like to offer some suggestions on what you should do.

Show some humility.
Many of us bristled at the tone of your speech tonight. On a night when it was clear who the nominee would be, you could not bring yourself to congratulate the winner. Nothing is in dispute. The party has united around a nominee. Withholding your congratulation looks self indulgent and petty.

Tonight is not about you. Sure you have accomplished a lot with your campaign, but a majority of the party has spoken. You might not like like it, but in the spirit of humility, you could have accepted it.

Tone down the rhetoric...for you and your supporters.
The campaign is over, so continuing to make the case for your campaign is no longer appropriate. Basking in chants of "Denver" is no longer acceptable. It is time for real unity and not just perfunctory praise. The first step on that path is to ramp down the campaign rhetoric...even if you don't begin your wholehearted praise.

Show some grace.
Now is not the time to start making demands of the nominee. A campaign for the VP spot before you even utter a word of congratulations puts the cart before the horse. I thought I heard an implied threat that you would hold your voters hostage for your yet unspecified demands. That is not a graceful way to end the primary. People will always remember the way you lost, and it won't help your cause if you truly seek to be on the ticket.

Tell your supporters it is over.
Tell them it is time to put their disappointments aside and unite behind the nominee. You have to do this when it is clear you have nothing to gain by doing so. You have to make it clear there will be no fight to Denver. That you will throw all your support into electing the nominee, as you have promised. Implore every one of them to join you, in no uncertain terms.

Do it now.
I'm not sure if you were paying attention tonight, but John McCain began his general election campaign with a full frontal assault on Barack Obama. We don't have time for you to dither and ponder your next step. We need to move out now. We have a campaign to run. It's time for everyone to get on board. Now.

Tonight was a missed opportunity to begin the healing our party and country so desperately needs. Tomorrow is a new day and new opportunity. Don't let it pass. Begin the healing. That's what you should do.

Let them go

It's been a while since I watched the Godfather trilogy, but I seem to remember that whenever a new Don was chosen, foe and friend alike all lined up to kiss his ring as a show of respect.

It strikes me that if this Primary race was Hillary Clinton's version of the Godfather, the new Don would have to kiss her ring.

I have listened as Hillary Clinton supporters have escalated their public contempt for Barack Obama to the point that they openly jeered that they would vote for McCain after the rules committee meeting on Saturday. Meanwhile Obama jets around the nation calling her a 'wonderful candidate who ran an extraordinary campaign.'

We all know he is being gracious. As of yesterday, Clinton was still running what many objective observers called a misleading ad in South Dakota. There she claimed to have more than 17 million votes, more than any Primary candidate ever. When you do the math, the only way to substantiate that claim is to count votes that don't count and to not count votes that do.

On Sunday's Meet the Press, Tim Russert asked Harold Ickes, a prominent Clinton supporter, if Obama received the required number of delegates for the nomination, would Clinton concede? Ickes couldn't give a straight answer.

These are the same people who decry the sexist nature of the campaign and proudly claim as their base voters who are admitted racists.

Now they want to entrust their futures to John McCain? The anti-abortion, pro-war, pro-business, anti-labor, pro-rich people, anti-middle class John McCain? Is that really what they want?

At some point, we have to say 'enough.' The democratic party has spoken. We have a new Don. Kiss the ring, or deal with the consequences. If we win without you, God help you. If we don't, we keep our integrity.

I once heard a pastor preach a sermon where he said, "If you are in a relationship with someone who doesn't want to be with you, LET THEM GO. Don't beg them to stay, don't follow them around, don't waste another minute. You can't keep someone who doesn't want to be there."

I have the same message for Barack Obama. These people aren't inclined to show you the respect that you have earned, and you can't make them.

Let them go.