So... is it a good thing or a bad thing that the Obama-Clinton race continues?

It's possible that it could be a very good thing, if the candidates keep their mind on what's good for the country rather than what's good for them.

The voter turn-out and the public attention to politics are good for the country. Long campaigns like this one can give all of us, regardless of political affiliation, a chance to look beneath the ads and the sound bites, to think about the challenges facing the country and weigh the candidates' experience and vision.

If Obama and Clinton ramp up the personal attacks, though, they'll destroy the chance to set the country back on the right course. A McCain administration would be way too much like the Bush administration, in foreign policy and in domestic policy. It's going to take long enough to clean up the mess that Bush-Cheney will leave us. We can't afford to add to it.

Either Democrat ought to be able to defeat McCain. But a vitriolic, exaggeration-prone, personal-attack campaign could hand McCain plenty of ammunition for the general election. And it could turn off the very voters who have been flocking to the polls this year.

Political chicanery could also turn off voters. And I'm still waiting for Hillary Clinton to make it clear that she wants to win in a clean fight.

It's entirely possible, now, that the Democratic nominee will be chosen at the party's convention this summer. And Clinton could end up with the nomination if enough super delegates line up behind her, and/or if the Democratic Party goes back on its word and seats the delegates from Michigan and Florida.

For the sake of the country, neither should happen.

I understand the logic behind the power given to super delegates. If a charismatic but unqualified candidate were leading in pledged delegates as the convention opened, and if party leaders were convinced that he or she stood no chance at being elected - or would be disastrous for the country if elected - super delegates could step in. But that's not the case this year. Barack Obama is qualified to serve. If he's ahead by a reasonable margin at the end of the primary season, the super delegates should follow voters' wishes.

And seating the delegates from Michigan and Florida would be a travesty. The Democratic Parties in those states knowingly broke the national party's rules by moving their primary dates. Both Clinton and Obama pledged to abide by the party's rules and not campaign in those states. Obama didn't even put his name on the ballot. There was no legitimate primary in either state, and for Clinton to claim her victories there is both ridiculous and cynical: politics as usual.

If the convention opens with Obama ahead, and ends with Clinton as the nominee thanks to super delegates, Michigan, and Florida, the Democratic Party will suffer for years. Far worse, the party will have told millions of voters that they've been right all along: that politics is a dirty game, and voters don't count.