From the Washington Post:

Joe Andrew Jumps from Clinton to Obama

Former Democratic Party leader Joe Andrew announced he is switching sides in the primary battle, from longtime ally Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to Sen. Barack Obama.

Andrew’s announcement came without warning to either candidate. The Indiana superdelegate released a long letter this morning explaining his decision, while anticipating Clinton “attack dogs” would seek their revenge.

“You can be for someone without being against someone else,” Andrew stressed in the letter, using italics for emphasis. “You can unite behind a candidate and a vision for America without rejecting another candidate and their vision, because in real life, opposed to party politics, we Democrats are on the same side.”

But as the contest drags on, he added, “it is clear that a vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote to continue” a Democratic battle that threatens to strengthen the presumptive GOP nominee, Sen. John McCain. He said he would use his influence within the party to press uncommitted superdelegates to sign on with Obama as soon as possible. Speaking to reporters by conference call, Andrew said, “We need to try to stop this process now.”

And, of course, Andrew is right about the Clinton “attack dogs” coming out, in a response letter from several other former DNC officials released this morning:

More than 30 million Americans have already cast a ballot in our Party’s nomination contest and millions more will go to the polls between now and June 3. The record numbers of Americans who are registering and coming out to vote reflect the excitement about our candidates and the strength that our nominee will have behind him or her in the fall. The primary process will make our nominee stronger and better prepared to take on John McCain. Our Party only gains from having more voters –- including more new voters -– all across our country.

We encourage you to continue to fully consider Hillary Clinton and the fact that she is qualified and accomplished. Too much is at stake for us not to consider deeply the choice we must make for our Party and our country.

I’m trying to figure out how ripping the party apart, as the Clinton campaign continues to do on a daily basis will “make the nominee stronger and better prepared to take on John McCain” … the fact remains that over the past couple of months, both Hillary’s and Obama’s approval ratings have been dropping, and John McCain’s ratings have been improving.

The record number of new voters are young voters … voters who are overwhelmingly supporting Barack Obama. Do you really think they’ll stick around and vote for Hillary if they see the candidate who wins the popular vote, more delegates, and more states (including states which traditionally go Republican) NOT get the nomination?

Republican voters in states like Idaho, Wyoming and Utah will never vote for Hillary Clinton. These same voters may well cross party lines to vote for Barack Obama, because they see what the Republican party has done over the past 7+ years and they are ready for change as well … but if the choice is between Clinton and McCain, the vast majority of voters will stick to the traditional party lines … and the Republican party will carry these states yet again.

Barack Obama can turn more traditionally “red” states into swing states. Hillary Clinton cannot. And Obama would still carry the traditional “blue” states … and the traditional swing states would still be in play; there’s no real evidence that if they are leaning towards the Democratic party now that they’d change sides because Obama is the candidate.

I’m sorry, but my dislike of Hillary is visceral. Oh … I’d vote for her come November if she is the candidate, but I’d rather have a less-experienced President whom is actually inspiring.

After the last 20 years of Bush/Clinton/Bush politics, the last thing this country needs is another President who is as divisive as Hillary would be.

I think that Barack Obama could actually bring the country back together, which to my mind is far more important than anything else; and if he chooses his Vice President and Cabinet wisely, he could be an incredible President on top, which would be a bonus!

Hopefully, this doesn’t make me a “Yes We Can” drone.

At least one of my friends disagrees, stating:

I would rather have experience rather than the empty shell of inspiration. Inspiration can’t lead a country. Divisive or not — the woman is intelligent and knows whose buttons to push and when. All of politics has to do with divisiveness.

I certainly respect that opinion, but I disagree … not about Hillary’s intelligence, because she is definitely an extremely smart woman; but in my mind, good politicians know how to navigate the divisiveness to build something approaching a consensus. They know how to compromise.

That’s the difference between people like GWB and Ronald Reagan … I was never a Reagan supporter — I am a good little Democrat, after all — but he had a way of appealing and reaching across the aisle … and that helped him accomplish his agenda.

Bill Clinton had this ability as well, which is how he managed to balance the budget and build a budget surplus, even with (for 6 of his 8 years) a hostile Republican majority Congress; a budget surplus which was completely squandered (and then some), by the current Republican administration (and the Republican majority Congress for the first 6 years of GWB’s presidency).

I don’t think Hillary would be able to accomplish the same thing, even with a friendly Democrat majority Congress.

But we’ll see. The best part about this year’s electoral process is that it is encouraging people to think and to get involved. People are excited about participating again … and that bodes well, no matter who is the candidate on either side, and no matter who is ultimately elected.

My opinion, anyway.

Going through the process that I have been over the past several months, one of the things that I’ve discovered (not that it was much of a surprise), is that I’m rather resistant to change. I hate it.

I’ve also realized that I need to start making some changes in my life if I want to move forward and not stagnate. Unfortunately; part of this process was getting divorced, which I still wish wasn’t necessary, but maybe it was.

Another is paying more focused attention to my career growth …

So, to that end, I’ve contacted a recruiter (on Kim’s recommendation) to help me find a new job; sent my résumé off to her today.

So I’m making that first small step towards change … and as K’ung fu-tze once said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”