Lika Starr

For the last several weeks a new buzz phrase has been popping up along the democratic road to the White House in 2009. That phrase is Dream Team and the team leaders are Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

After yesterday’s Super Tuesday’s results it’s apparent (to me anyway) that democrats are split right down the middle between the two candidates. Super Tuesday delegate takes for the candidates were 580 for Clinton and 571 for Obama. In total delegate counts from all primaries and pledged delegates Clinton is ahead at 823, just 82 over Obama’s 741.On the path of issues, the two candidates are also equally split with only minor differences in major issues such as health care. The real difference according to the exit polls are race and gender. As shameful as it might seem it is apparent that when it comes to the Democratic Party some Americans are voting based on color and sex. More white men voted for Obama while more white women voted for Clinton. 80 percent of blacks (both male and female) voted for Obama while Clinton took the majority of votes from Latinos and Asians. Despite all the voting on race and gender the result was an equal split overall when everything is taken into consideration as a whole. Taking sex and gender out of the equation the older votes went to Clinton and the younger votes went to Obama.

The bad news in all this is will be if this forces the candidates to push these issues against each other in order to vie for the presidency which could damage the party. The good news is if they stay the course ultimately running on the same ticket to the White House. If the two campaigns are smart party-wise (democratic) then they’ll use their popularity amongst their respective demographics to the party’s advantage.

With Huckabee’s surprise showing in the Bible Belt on Super Tuesday he could be a real threat to the Democratic run for president should he end up on the short list for Vice President on the GOP side. Should this occur, then the GOP would have a strong ticket come November making them a force to be reckoned with. The Democratic Party has to know its chances are reduced with a Clinton led ticket in November against a strong GOP ticket. However those chances could be greatly increased with Obama riding as VP on that ticket.

That brings us to the Dream Team scenario. But will it even be possible if Clinton and Obama start attacking each other in their quest for the Democratic nominee? Such a contest could permanently divide the party removing all chances of a Dream Team. There’s nothing worse than an internal war in politics. Let’s just hope we’re all grown up enough that it doesn’t happen.

Assuming the Dream Team plays out to success and it may have to in order to unite the Democratic Party, which ticket on the train would be best? The Clinton/Obama Express or the Obama/Clinton Metro? According to the GOP, anything with Clinton is a huge plus for them. But just how strong is that claim? On Super Tuesday there were 73% more people voting democrat. Throughout the primaries the scale has favored Democrats to Republicans by whopping measures. But the key is how many of the Obama voters would not vote for Clinton or worse vote Republican.

Another thing to consider is that Obama is increasingly becoming more “likable” amongst all demographics as time goes on. The more he talks the more votes he gets. Among the financial demographic Obama leads the pack with the wealthier voters while Clinton has gained ground with those less fortunate. But Obama touched on something on the night of Super Tuesday and that was his success with Chicago’s south side neighbor hood. That was something we haven’t heard before.

While I would personally be happy with either Clinton or Obama as President I think in order to ensure a Democratic victory for the White House we will have to ride the Obama/Clinton Metro. Here’s why: My fear is that those who are solely voting for Obama because he’s male and or black may not vote Clinton. There is also a strong evangelical voter presence on the Obama side. These people might not vote for a Clinton led ticket or worse, they might not vote at all.

On the flipside, I think most of those supporting Clinton now would support an Obama/Clinton ticket. It’s probably not what you think either. I brought this up to a friend and he said, “yeah, you’re probably right. America is not ready for a female president and would ultimately prefer a male in office regardless of race or color.” I agree that has some merit because of what the exit polls show but I think with Clinton it boils down to experience. Clinton supporters know that with her experience she will be a huge influence on Obama as President and they will see it is a victory even if she is only second in command. On the other hand for some Obama supporters experience is not an issue and it may just be all or nothing for them. If that is the case then a Clinton led ticket especially without Obama could level the playing field for the republicans.

Opinion - Lika Starr