Over the Top

When the race for the White House began, the polls all but placed the crown on the head of Hillary Clinton as the presumptive nominee of the Democratic party. Call it instinct, blind faith or plain Pollyanna foolishness, whatever licks your lollipop...

...I knew the polls were wrong.

While others--many others--were ready to hand HRC the keys to the White House and fluff her pillow on Air Force One, people on the street--regular folk--had other ideas. Tired of politics as usual, these citizens had a simple plan in mind.

Throw the bums out.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton--who voted for the war in Iraq--was considered one such bum.

Yet, her name polled bipolar. High personal negatives, high positive name recognition.

Well aware this tiny revolution raged, I asked my own simple question--Do people vote with their hearts or their heads?

Among the answers received was this reply from a political scientist acquaintance of mine: With these numbers--if Hillary keeps polling like this--she can't lose.

I dug in. No. Way. That comment just didn't add up with what I was hearing out in the real world: too much pain, not enough gain.

No doubt about it. The numbers paid a huge role in the race for the Dem nomination. But not as predicted. As Not So Fast, Hillary ignited a Yes We Can frenzy, Democrats voted in droves, determined to propel their candidate over the top.

That's all about heart.

When Barack Obama emerged last night as the presumptive nominee of the Democratic party, I pondered the long odds faced by this young Senator from Illinois as he successfully took on and beat back one of the most powerful political machines of our times.

As the Clinton crown is shoved back into the deepest darkest crannies of the top shelf, I am reminded of words spoken by another young statesman from Illinois.

"I am for those means which will give the greatest good to the greatest number."

Good call by Abraham Lincoln. A man who knew a thing or two about division and reunification.