Sunday, June 1, 2008

Game, Set and Match

My neck hurts more than usual. It is a good thing I am scheduled for some treatment later this week because it sure had a work-out over the weekend. On one hand I was swiveling my head back and forth watching the French Open tennis tournament. At the same time I was flipping channels Saturday to watch the verbal battle in the DNC meeting as they debated what to do with Michigan and Florida.

As the men and women of the tennis matches returned volley after volley with speed, determination and skill so did the two sides at the DNC Committee meeting. Although there was no “scoreboard” in the jam packed board room, everyone was keeping track of the ebb and flow of the delegate count.

Ironically, neither the tennis match nor the committee’s finding were beneficial to American women. The most famous current women tennis players were defeated early on in the French Open. As both Serena and Venus Williams were beaten in the third round so was Hillary in Saturday’s rulings. The biggest blow was in the Michigan ruling where Clinton hoped to walk away with more delegates than what was given to her.

What next? Hilary’s supporters hinted that they might take it to the convention as the small crowd of middle aged white women cheered in the background. But no matter what they do, the odds are slim and none that she will eventually win.

Perhaps the greatest result of the meeting is it marked the beginning of the end for the Clinton dominance and control of the DNC. By nearly a 2-1 vote the committee members showed that it is now an Obama party. You could say that Obama and his supporters kept serving ace after ace which Hillary could never return.

How will an Obama controlled DNC act during the upcoming national election? That is the biggest unknown out there. Barack is an untested, inexperienced politician who so far is playing this game brilliantly. He continuously has beaten anyone who goes up against him in spite of being an “unranked” newcomer. How has he done this against some of the biggest names in the Democratic party? Maybe he is just that good at the game and yet….

Newsmakers are just now beginning to come out of their trance over this young man to dig into his history. On Saturedy he left his controversial church but who knows what else may be out there about him? Hillary’s complaint that Obama is unvetted may prove to be prophetic. All we can do now is watch the game unfold between Obama and McCain and see what happens over the next six months.

As for my aching neck, it got one more workout on Saturday. Late in the afternoon I finally got up off my couch and walked outside. And in the beautiful sun drenched Florida afternoon I lifted my head up to the blue sky. Looking to the east I saw the familiar sign of a large white puffy spiral climbing towards the heavens. Another successful space shuttle launched. No matter how many times I have seen this, it is still an awesome sight. And maybe in the political games we all could use an occasional time-out not only to rest but to remind us of what they are fighting for and the high stakes that will go to the winner.

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