The Democratic Conundrum

Yesterday, I sat down three times to write about Hillary Clinton's win in Puerto Rico. Each time, my first thought was "How will the party resolve the issue of two viable candidates?"

In a move that wasn't surprising, officials over the weekend decided to include the Florida and Michigan delegations in the convention but, thinking they were acting with the wisdom of Solomon, they split the delegates. The uproar over four Michigan delegates going to Barack Obama-- even though he wasn't on the ballot in that state's primary-- should give party leaders a taste of what may happen at the convention.

Could this split the party? Very possibly. The Republican Party has a number of special-interest groups (Log Cabin Republicans, Republicans for Choice, etc.) but each of these groups is willing, if necessary, to hold its collective nose for the good of the party--if they dislike the candidate.

The Democrats? I have a hard time seeing any collective nose holding. It's June 2nd and factions are forming.

Howard Dean does not strike me as a great facilitator of peace-- I may be wrong-- but I'm not seeing this settled anytime before the conventions.