We're going to be on our way to Baton Rouge on Super-Duper Tuesday, so Mary and I voted early in the Arizona Democratic Primary. Way back when, I had wanted to register as an Independent. However, in Arizona, this means that you cannot participate in party primaries. So I registered as a Democrat; they're much more likely to have sane policies in my experience. By the time I started to become politically aware, the Republican party had already become the tag-team of anti-democracy forces that it remains today.
But the Democratic Party still needs to be pushed to be more progressive. So I use the primary as my opportunity to do try and do that. This time it was by voting for Barack Obama. I do think Senator Clinton would have a better chance of beating whomever the Republicans choose, and probably better able to put together a coalition to repair the great damage Bush and the Republicrats have done to this nation. So if she ends up getting the nomination, I'll enthusiastically support her.
Some of the things she has espoused while in Congress bug me, like her initial support for the war in Iraq, and the periodic calls to investigate violent video games, etc. Probably these are calculated attempts to gain power by appearing to be more to the Right on these issues. Obama, by contrast, seems to be largely free of such cynicism. A former professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard, I'd like to think that he'd have more respect for that document than Bush & Co who in essence have shredded it....
But to get back to the point, if Obama challenges Clinton for the nomination it will help tilt the party in the progressive direction.
