My e-mail to "Bill Clinton"

In light of the disappointing results in North Carolina and Indiana, I thought the time had come

to assess the inevitable - of who will win the nomination, and what November result it would

augur. I found no better forum to express these thoughts than in reply to yet another

fundraising appeal sent from "Bill Clinton" which I found in my e-mail box today:

I realize that Bill Clinton won't be reading this message and that what I write will not be highlighted in any future fundraising effort. But to whoever is reading this, let me make a couple of candid points:

I supported Hillary Clinton in the primaries because of the two remaining Democratic candidates I believed she was the only one who could mount a winning November campaign. To be sure, my assessment has not changed, and I am bitterly disappointed that my party has chosen slogans over substance and is all but certain to place the nomination in the hands of someone who is likely to lose everywhere except for Vermont and D.C. in November.

Nevertheless, assuming my assessment is correct, I want people like Bill and Hillary Clinton to be viable contributors to an effort to revitalize our party from what is likely to be the ash heap of a potential McCain landslide. I want our party to thoughtfully and intelligently scrutinize itself for failing to scrutinize Mr. Obama and to fall into the cesspool of identity politics that is likely to doom our chances in November, barring a total economic collapse which I, as a patriot before being a partisan, do not want to see. If Bill and Hillary Clinton see the wisdom of gracefully ceding the spotlight, they will have every right to remind our fellow Democrats of their potential mistake at the appropriate time. If they do not, then they will be deemed as "part of the problem."

Regrettably, the Democratic Party now faces one of two instruments of its own doom for 2008: A McGovern/Mondale type of electoral wipeout, or self-destruction by its own infighting. We as a party have shown ourselves to recover from the former; we will not revive so easily in the aftermath of the latter.

Senator Clinton, I applaud you for having put up the fight. But you are also my Senator, and I want you to be effective in that role - both in working for New York and in working to make our party competitive again. You seriously damage your ability to complete both tasks by keeping up this futile cause...to say nothing of your chances of returning to the arena in 2012 where you could easily champion yourself as both a "stateswoman" and visionary to lead us back from the wilderness. I beg you to consider these consequences.

Sincerely,

[The Brahmin]