Bob Casey's Obama endorsement says a lot about the future of the Democratic party.
I was amazed to see that Bob Casey endorsed Obama. I'd have given odds against it, since Hillary had supported his senate canddacy along with Chuck Schumer and harry reid. Hillary even held a few fundraisers for him. So, for Casey to go against Clinton and Schumer, that tells me he's chosen sides and the other side has Harry Reid on it, along with the other members of the senate who have already endorsed Obama.
With Nancy Pelosi already calling for a superdelegate policy that supports Obama and Harry Reid and a number of the other leading Dem Primary candidates already behind Obama, the writing is on the wall and it is just a matter of time before Hillary finally reads and then demands that Bill read the damned message already.
I don't see Bob Casey as a leader. He's a team player and it is clear that he's sized up the situation for himself and chosen a future that includes Obama and the path that will take the Democratic party. That path is a break from 16 years of Clinton/DLC leadership. If Obama wins the primary and then the election, the Clinton leadership, with the close support and inspiration of the DLC will be over. No wonder there is a huge, bloody battle going on. The stakes are far beyond just determining who runs against McCain. Normally, if Hillary was not in the race, Bill Clinton would continue, even with a new Democratic president, to be a major player in the DNC. But having put all his power and influence on the line, a failure to win Hillary the primary will result in an even steeper drop for Bill Clinton in party influence, and along with him, all the Clinton Whitehouse former employees who were waiting to step back into power.
A win for Obama will represent a huge step away from the DLC, a step away from a policy of moving the Democratic party to the right. While Obama must avoid, in the election, signs of progressive or liberal tendencies, his win will be a clear rejection of the drift to the right. He even insisted the DLC remove his name from a list they created of DLC senators-- a list they added his name to without permission.
As the Clinton Tribe/Cartel/Dynasty evaporates from the scene, a vacuum will be created. It'll be interesting to see what fills that vacuum. Be assured other groups are waiting. Progressives have an opportunity to grrab a lot more power. So do bluedogs. It's a pregnant time, where anything could happen. If there's a way for progressives to come together, as never before, at the same time telling Clinton leftovers where to go, some amazing progress could be made. It will take real, strong leadership to make it happen. Even independents like Bernie Sanders could get involved.
There will be, over the coming weeks, as more and more superdelegates come out and take sides, like Casey, a tiime of chaos. Chemist Ilya Prigogine won a nobel prize for showing that in complex chemical reactions, out of chaos often comes higher levels of order. Strong, tough, visionary leadership and planning could make things much better... or not. There will surely be some shakeups in the power structure. We're entering a time when all of us need to think together, brainstorm and take the opportunity to influence who the new leaders, new leading organizations will be.
The Chinese talk about he curse of living in interesting times. That we are
