A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days

David Brooks suggests that Hillary Clinton believes she must destroy the Democratic Party in order to save it. Or something close to that. Republicans, of course, will do nothing to dissuade Clinton of the belief that somehow, someway, she will be able to capture the Democratic nomination. After all of these years of frustrating Republican hopes, it is high time that the Clintons work to fulfill them.

Meanwhile, the Democrats are looking for a savior:

U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney, whose district includes much of Martin and St. Lucie counties, is hoping he won't have to attend the Democratic Party national convention in Denver in August.

If he does go, that will mean the Democrats still haven't decided a nominee for the presidential election. And if neither Sen. Hillary Clinton nor Sen. Barack Obama has clinched the nomination by August, Mahoney says we may see a brokered convention, meaning the nominee could emerge from a negotiated settlement.

"If it (the nomination process) goes into the convention, don?t be surprised if someone different is at the top of the ticket," Mahoney said.

A compromise candidate could be someone such as former vice president Al Gore, Mahoney said last week during a meeting with this news organization's editorial board.

Usually, one hears this kind of talk early on during the primary and caucus process. One does not hear it in late March. Things are very, very dire in the unity-creation business if after so many months of a Clinton-Obama race, Democrats now feel that they have to turn to Al Gore to save them.