Clinton Wins Puerto Rico, but Party is bitterly divided

I need to apologize for being late with my post, but the last of the Vanel brothers has completed college. Danny Vanel, our youngest brother, received his degree from Queens College last week. The Vanel Journal is sending belated congrats to my brother Danny and of course, Pierre and Gertha Vanel, for doing such a great job raising ten children, all of whom have completed college.

Ok back to Politics.

Clinton, as expected, won Puerto Rico yesterday and finally there are reports that she may in fact concede fairly soon. First Read is reporting that Clinton plans to hold a "celebration" in New York City, and there are other reports that she has notified some staff members that the primary battle is nearing its end. Obama only needs approximately 44 delegates to clinch the nomination and sources say that he already has them lined up, the undeclared superdelegates are simply waiting for the last primaries to end before announcing their preference.

Divided We Stand?

After he officially becomes the nominee, Obama will need to unite a divided party. There is plenty of time to do this but there will be some rough roads ahead, especially after Saturday's embarrassing display of intra-party partisanship. The Clinton campaign has been stoking the deep seated anger and resentment of some of their supporters. Although it was a fait accompli that Obama would win the nomination regardless of the outcome of the Michigan and Florida mess, they still managed to create a spectacle that further incited the rage of their supporters. It was reported that a deal was struck to finally seat the MI and FLA delegation, yet Clinton representatives were busy fanning the flames and grandstanding in front of television cameras. Ickes claimed the DNC "hijacked four delegates from Hillary," calling it "outrageous" and "egregious." He reiterated the threat to take the fight to the convention.

What was the purpose of these outburst? Was it to poison electorate and guarantee an Obama loss in November? Perhaps, but I think there is more happening here, the Democratic Party is undergoing a transformational change right before our eyes and change does not come easy. The Clintons' stranglehold on the party is being dislodged and their surrogates, all whom stand to lose a great deal of power and and influence, are not going away quietly.

I can only hope that the Clintons care enough about their legacy that they work diligently to bring the Democratic together.

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