United we stand...

This weeks Southern Tuesday primaries should provide the final confirmation of what we all know by providing John Kerry with the last few hundred delegates he needs to secure the nomination. It's done, and it's been done very early, and while some think the early decision is problematic, I think it's going to turn out to be a very good thing. In fact, I think the primary schedule devised by DNC Chair Terry McCauliffe will turn out to be one of the three great legacies his term will produce, the others being the new Party headquarters building in Washington, DC, and the most well developed database of Democratic voters that's ever existed.

Why is an early decision such a good thing? I think it erodes some of the advantages of incumbency that the Republicans hold. Party unity is an important factor in ultimate Party victory, and while there's been considerable pushing and shoving in the Democratic field, much of it took place last summer and fall when only the most dedicated political geeks (yeah, my hand is raised) were paying much, if any, attention. Now the Kerry campaign has nearly four months to bind the wounds and take the Party into the Convention united, instead of using the Convention as a forum for achieving Party unity. The Republicans have launched any number of rumors about which Democrats they would or wouldn't want to face in November, but what they really wanted was a Democratic field growing increasingly divided and divisive into May and June, so that the wounds of the campaign would be fresh when we convene in July. Credit McCauliffe for creating the primary framework which denied the Republicans their wish.

A great deal of the necessary unity work is already being done. The American Enterprise Institute's Norman Ornstein has observed that "There's a level of cohesion among Democrats that I have never, ever seen before," and Ornstein's been watching for a good long while. Of the original ten contenders for the nomination, most of the key players - including Graham, Edwards, Clark and Gephardt - have already endorsed Kerry, with Clark and Gephardt taking particularly active roles in stumping for the nominee. With the exception of Governor Dean, none of the remaining candidates ever attracted a constituency capable of creating a significant level of dissension in the Party, and all, including Dean, have pledged to endorse and campaign for the nominee. I expect that Kerry will, in fact, enter the Democratic National Convention with endorsements from all save Dennis Kucinich, whose pledge to campaign until the last delegate vote is cast seems sincere, if misguided.

The first steps toward a national coordinated campaign, keeping the Presidental, US Senate and US House candidates on a focused theme and nationalizing the election in a way that could contribute to strong Congressional outcomes for Democrats, are already being taken as well. Rep. Robert Matsui, chair of the House Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, has declared himself "comfortable" running with Kerry, who has "...has shown himself to be a national candidate." Similarly, Senate Leader Nancy Pelosi promises "...fusion in the Democratic message."

I really think this is shaping up to be a watershed year for Democrats at every level, a chance for the kind of national political realignment we last saw in 1980, when the Republicans united behind the leadership of Ronald Reagan in a way that led to two decades of neutralization and defeat for Democrats. One observation regarding Kerry that recently caught my eye is that during his Senate career, there has been a unified Democratic government - White House, Senate and House of Representatives - for only two years.

With the extraordinary opportunity for unity that the early conclusion of the primary campaign affords us this year, this is an opportunity for a realignment that produces the opposite result.