Nick Daley | Managing Editor

The 2008 presidential election is roughly six months away and the Democratic Party is still yet to decide on its nominee. John McCain has emerged as the Republican candidate, but Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton remain in a virtual deadlock on the Democratic side. So who will be challenging McCain on Nov. 4? And realistically, does it even matter?

The Democrats appear to have shot themselves in the foot in their efforts to win back the White House. It seems to me that the candidates have battled each other with such force and disagreement, that they’ve actually split their own party. Clinton supporters hate Obama and vice versa. In fact, recent polls show that a significant number of supporters despise the other candidate enough to switch their votes to the Republican McCain.

A March 7-22 Gallup poll revealed that 28 percent of Clinton supporters would vote for McCain if Hillary didn’t get the nomination, and conversely, 19 percent of Obama supporters would vote for McCain if Barack didn’t get the nomination. Those are extremely significant percentages! Add in the fact that Ralph Nader is going to take a slice of the Democratic voter’s pie, and what do you end up with? John McCain as the 44th president of the United States of America.

For the Democrats, winning this election should have been easier than counting the steps of the Capitol Building (there are 365 by the way). They had the presidency handed to them on a silver platter, compliments of George W. Bush. It’s clear that the majority of Congress and the country are fed up with the Bush administration, and probably would have voted for ANY Democrat just to get the Republicans out of the White House.

But then the Dems start this primary war between a black candidate and a woman, a race and gender we’ve never seen in the White House, and completely divide their party to the point that they would rather vote for a Republican than the other Democratic candidate. I’m not saying that either of these candidates would be unsuccessful as president, I’m simply stating that because of their combative campaigning they have polarized the party.

Some could argue that the intense Democratic battle for the nomination is in a way energizing voters and beneficial for the democratic process. And indeed, this primary season has been one of the most exciting in our country’s history. However, there is a difference between healthy competition and the onslaught of verbal attacks that have been exchanged between Clinton and Obama. These two can’t even have a debate without one of them throwing a low-blow or hitting after the whistle.

The only chance the Democrats have to win the presidency is if they get an Obama-Clinton ticket. Unfortunately for the Dems, there’s a better chance of Mike Huckabee winning the election on write-ins. There’s absolutely no chance that these two will reconcile their differences and join forces to unite their party. Obama made that perfectly clear when Hillary tried to suggest that he should be her running-mate.

According to presidentelectionpolls.com, based on the latest polls from each state, if McCain were to run against Hillary he would win the presidency 302 to 236 in electoral votes. The site also shows that McCain would defeat Obama 326 to 203. And it gets worse Democrats…

A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll from early February shows that the Dems really don’t mind McCain all that much, with 44 percent saying they like him, and 42 percent saying they dislike him. The poll also showed that over 80 percent of Republicans dislike Clinton and 53 percent dislike Obama.

You do the math. Regardless of which candidate the Democrats nominate, if the poll opinions hold up, McCain will win. If you’re a Democrat you have to be thinking, “Where’s John Edwards when you need him?” And for the Republicans…who would’ve guessed that it was going to be this easy?

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