I don’t use this blog to discuss politics much and I’ve particularly avoided presidential politics. But tonight’s projected victories by Hillary Clinton in Ohio and Texas reminded me of something I heard last week. It’s clear that the race for the Democratic nominee is going to last longer than many people thought just seven days ago, given Barack Obama’s eleven straight primary wins at that time.

After my interview with Cliff Kelley on WVON “The Talk of Chicago” last week came to an end I went online and listened to the interview Kelley did after mine. He spoke with Dick Gregory, the 1960’s comedian and civil rights activist. Kelley asked Gregory what he thought of the Obama phenomenon and whether he thought Obama would become the next U.S. president. His answer, and what followed, went something like this:

“No,” said Gregory.

“You don’t think he’s going to win?”

“They won’t let him win,” said Gregory. “He’ll be vice president.”

“You think Clinton will win and Obama will become her vice president?”

“No. It’ll go to a brokered convention. Gore will be drafted and he’ll name Obama his running mate.”

These aren’t exact quotes, but that was Dick Gregory’s bottom line. I remember chuckling to myself at the time. But now the smile on my face probably matches that of Dick Gregory this evening.

In words from Alice in Wonderland, this gets “curiouser and curioser…”

Update:

Two days after I posted this, my cousin James offered his erudite thoughts on the state of the Democratic race. You can read it here.