It's Over....Or Is It?

Cross-posted at Taylor Marsh.

It's time to let go of the dream. Hillary is going to be in the Senate for the foreseeable future. From Voteboth.com:

Because of your work, Senator Obama asked Hillary to be his keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention! We hope you are as pleased as we are that he has tapped Senator Clinton to deliver one of the most important messages of that crucial week—the very role that Barack Obama had four years ago.

Regretfully, this means that Senator Hillary Clinton is no longer under consideration as Senator Obama’s running mate.

For those of you who are considering withholding your support for the nominee:

We worked for Hillary for a combined ten years, so we know how many of you may be feeling. And to those who are hesitant to support Obama right now, we urge you to keep giving him the chance to earn your vote. We are confident he will.

Because, when it comes down to it, even the most ardent Hillary-supporter must ask himself or herself, “Do I want John McCain sending our soldiers off to more wars, giving Big Oil free rein to gouge us at the pump, and letting ideology overrule decisions that should be made on the basis of science and health?”

No. Never.

This is a little easier for me, because I never wanted her to be on the ticket with Obama. But I understand that others may be disappointed. However, we need to accept the reality that the Clinton Democrats are going to be shut out of the executive branch. With Hillary's keynote address, we are politely being shown the door.

For now, we're down. But are we out? Where do we, the Clinton Democrats, the Clintonistas for Obama and the PUMAs, go from here? Is there an alternative to (a) voting against the party—and thus against Hillary’s and our own interests—or (b) standing nauseous on the sidelines with an Obama sign and a phony smile?

One of my friends had a wonderful idea, an alternative to giving John McCain control of the White House:

"Deaniacs" are a brilliant example of what can be done. Dean has done a great deal for the party in my eyes and the fifty state strategy is so important! And think about this, what if PUMAs put all that energy into getting their local democrats elected? Krazy huh?

Think about this for a second. Our alternatives in 2008 are Obama and McCain. Period. Hillary is not going to be resurrected. If the PUMAs succeed in tilting the election to McCain, the Clintons--and their supporters--are finished. We are the scum that extended the war in Iraq and put two more Alito's on the Court.

But suppose we decide to attack from the bottom rather than the top.

Obama is all about big speeches in front of large, adoring crowds that will go away after November 4th. His "youth voters" and "Obamacans" aren't the committed Democrats that many of us are. For the most part, the college students don’t understand the hard work that changing this country is going to require. And the Obamacans will wipe their hands of the Democrats after the cathartic relief of punishing GOP leaders. The day after the election, these "Democrats for a Day" go back to their own lives and we step in. We start running for local offices. We take over key positions. The Clinton Democrats re-take the party from the bottom.

Right now, the latte/arugula wing of the Democratic Party thinks that they have successfully marginalized the Clinton Democrats. Their guy is on the top of the ticket. Hillary is out. The DNC has moved to Chicago. Bill is back to fighting AIDS in Africa. Their guy is so confident of success, he started mapping out the legislation for 2009 in a meeting with House Democrats.

Let them think that they are in charge. Meanwhile, we organize at the bottom (and give our money to Hillary) and we reshape the Democratic Party for the future. Because in the end, that's what this is really about.

And after all, success is the best revenge!