It is a cruel sort of irony that, à la George W. Bush in 2000, the candidate who pitched himself as a grand unifying force has ended up being corrosively divisive. But Obama's hubris knows no bounds, and he insisted on running for president almost immediately after beginning his career as a major-league level politician. He garnered some buzz, and his organization mastered the quirks of the caucus system, and he scored a win in Iowa. But when the voters in general got a chance to have their say in New Hampshire, his momentum was blunted.

What to do? Play the race card by making up bogus allegations of racism out of whole cloth. This served a dual purpose: (a) smearing his opponent, and (b) consolidating the support of the African-American voters. It was sleazy, but it worked for a while. But as it turned out, a lot of Democrats saw exactly what he was up to, and were repulsed, and rallied around Sen. Clinton.

But since Obama wasn't exposed until late in the process, we find ourselves locked in a stalemate. His supporters insist, with no basis whatsoever, that this is only some grand illusion, and that in reality the contest is already over (without explaining why, then, the Obama campaign is even bothering to campaign in the upcoming primary states). Our chances of retaking the White House grow smaller by the day, and by playing the race card so heavily and defending his off-the-reservation pastor, Obama is now hemmed in as the candidate of black radicalism and cannot prevail in November.

The party will regret the day Barack Obama decided that the country needed him so badly that he couldn't serve out a full term in the Senate. If he truly believed in his rhetoric about unity, he would do the honorable thing and drop out now for the sake of his party and his country. The ONLY reason for him to continue is his conviction that he is so gosh darn special the country just can't make do without him. Thanks but no thanks Barack. We'll do just fine without you. Stop putting yourself and your ego above your party and your country.

A thought experiment: suppose the Wright controversy had hit in January instead of March. Does anyone believe that Obama would still have a hope of being nominated? Obama had a string of successes because voters saw him as something we now know he isn't: a candidate with the potential for broad appeal, capable of "re-aligning" the map. He was "post-racial," a candidate who transcended the traditional battles over race. He was squeaky "clean," in Biden's words, immune to the typical Republican smears.

Every argument in favor of Obama's candidacy has been thoroughly obliterated. Republicans, previously worried about facing Obama, now see him as "easier prey" than Clinton, and rightly so. In an election where few things favor the GOP, they have now been given a gift: a chance to make this election about the few issues - race and patriotism - they do have an advantage on.

"God Damn America." "The U.S. of K.K.K.A." "Chickens coming home to roost." To be so closely tied to someone who openly, flamboyantly expresses such sentiments is to render yourself unacceptable to mainstream voters, and therefore unelectable. Even Obama himself recognizes his disadvantage, saying "the odds of me getting elected have always been lower than some of the other conventional candidates," which makes you wonder why he is willing to saddle the party with a candidate who is less likely to win. The question is: do we let him? Do we let him throw away our chances of taking back the White House? The only thing I care about in this campaign is electing a Democrat to the White House, and nominating Obama makes that impossible. He's sinking fast, and he's going to take the party down with him if we don't do something about it.