Hey, Clinton, Obama

Do the Following:

Adopt a New Focus & Strategy

For the Rest of the Campaign

You have it in your power to introduce a breath-taking change in your strategy and tactics for the remainder of this primary season.

You should campaign solely against the presumptive Republican nominee, John McCain, and not against each other.

We already have a pretty good idea of the differences between you, so to continue trying to pull each other down is not going to be constructive.

Competing against each other can only enhance the Republican candidacy, and could be destructive for each of you within the Democratic Party.

In contrasting what you offer with what John McCain has to offer, each of you would continue to push your own program, but in such a way as to combat the real opposition, not each other.

Such a strategy would provide voters with an impression of how each of you would run against McCain.

The primary elections will play themselves out in any event, with the electorate seeing the strengths of each of you, while the Republican programs will be seen for what they are.

The winning Democratic candidate would still be the person with the most delegates.

This may sound too utopian, but super-delegates should support the candidate who won in each of their own constituencies.

Min Yee, Bellevue, Washington, February 12, 2008

(With thanks to David Buchsbaum of Newton, Mass., for my introduction to this idea from his Letter to the Editor to The New York Times, published on Feb. 9, 2008.)