emergent ink

Yesterday was a remarkable day, and today’s news should reflect that. But instead of headlines about Barack Obama’s historic victory, we get something else. So while I’m very excited to get my wish (Obama vs. McCain) and I am not as down on the process as Richard Cohen, I remain slightly annoyed today.

The New York Times has these headlines as of 2:00pm today:

Obama Clinches Democratic Nomination (subhead: After a Long Battle, Focus on Clinton’s Next Move)

With Senator Barack Obama crossing the threshold of delegates needed to win the Democratic presidential nomination, party leaders began to move on Wednesday to bring the lengthy primary battle to a close and unite the party, even as questions swirled about Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s next move.

Next on Agenda Is Clinton’s Role

CNN finally got its headline right: Obama: ‘Enormous honor’ to be picked (earlier, the headline story was Is Clinton bucking for VP?).

Several times before, I have written about how this country needs to get away from the politics of the past, the gamesmanship and partisanship that have divided us and left us conquerable. Senator Barack Obama ran for the Democratic Party’s nomination by talking about the need for change, and this type of political change, in particular. Senator John McCain is a Republican who at one time at least offered the same kind of thing: a different kind of politics. Both candidates have their flaws, but they are the best chance this country has.

After observing politics for the past several years, I felt that Senator Clinton was not able to offer the country that kind of change. And I let my anger about the way Hillary Clinton has run her campaign come out on these pages. Some of it was intended to be light-hearted, but I am certain that there were some things that seemed a bit cruel.

Today should be a day for pulling people together. But from what I saw of her speech last night (it was all about how we have to wait for HER to make decisions, when it should no longer be HER decision to make) and from the headlines today, I see that what matters, to the Clintons, is not the country but themselves. That is a shame.

But it is not only the Clinton’s fault that we are still talking about what Hillary will do next, today. Barack Obama needs to be quick about this, and I feel that he needs to acknowledge her achievements in this race but must not choose her to be his running mate. We need a clean break from the past. This is up to Obama, of course.

It appears that John McCain would like to see the “Will Obama choose Hillary” thing go on for as long as possible. The way Clinton and McCain talk, perhaps McCain should choose Clinton to be his running mate. The two are somehow more suited for each other. It would make my decision this November even easier.

The media needs to stop granting the Clintons their power over us, by moving on to the real story. In this case it is history and by that I do mean HIS story. Obama’s story. Not to take anything away from women here, but that is what it is.

I too need to set aside my personal feelings about the Clintons. I do want the country to heal, and no matter how much I look forward to a White House without a Bush or a Clinton, if I’m talking about those names I’m letting myself get stuck in the past. It’s time for a change.