Today We Can Breathe

My little time out for yoga recently made me wonder if it isn't time for the candidates and all of us Democrats to find our center and focus on the thing that matters most -- US!
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One more day.

Just one more day.

The Pennsylvania Democratic Primary will be over today and maybe then, to quote Gerald Ford's speech writer who passed away this weekend, "Our long national nightmare will be over."

Wishful thinking you say? Maybe. But I'm sensing that even though there are many who believe this will play out until the convention in Denver, my gut says something is going to happen in Pennsylvania that will change all that. Maybe we're all just too tired to keep listening. Maybe each candidates' supporters are beating each other down and we're just too weary to continue. But I'm sensing there will soon be a shift in this campaign.

While some have not believed me when I've written that my farming parents in Pennsylvania still are on the fence about who to vote for, I spoke with them this weekend and they are still undecided about whether they're going for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.

I realized after a quick yoga class this morning, though, that no matter what happens today, we can all get through it if we just breathe.

Go ahead. Take a minute. A nice in and out. A delicious cleansing breath. And not just for us voters, but for the candidates, too.

Barack and Hillary -- breathe. I know things are going to be crazy today and you're not going to get much sleep tonight, but a little "Om" and a few deep breaths could not only give you some extra energy, but maybe it would also help you both find that electoral center you're going to need for one of you to take on John McCain.

Because did you see him on This Week with George Stephanopoulos? He is honing and owning the calm John demeanor. He's not letting go of the 'my friends' routine, and even if some of his policies are way to the right, the friendly John McCain is going to go far in winning over some Democrats if the Democratic party can't pull it together ASAP.

I haven't minded the rigorous debate among the candidates so far. In some ways, I think it's good for the country that the Hillary candidacy, or any candidacy for that matter, was not a fait accompli as so many had predicted.

But my little time out for yoga made me wonder if it isn't time for the candidates and all of us Democrats to find our center and focus on the thing that matters most -- US! Not the candidates' political careers and not their ability to jab at each other, but the voters and what we need.

Don't need anymore Jay-Z. Don't need to hear about Xerox. Don't need anymore spouses bad-mouthing the candidates.

We're at a point where many of us aren't even able to talk to our friends because we've become so divided when we all started on the same page.

Maybe a little lotus pose and a few minutes of meditation can bring us back to the place we need to be at the end of the day, when everyone packs up to leave Pennsylvania and heads to North Carolina.

OM.

Joanne writes about the intersection of life and politics at her place, PunditMom. She is also a Contributing Editor for Politics & News at BlogHer and is a proud MOMocrat.

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