the closely contested primary is still going on....  but no matter who wins the democratic nomination, HRC and BO won a victory for the american people.  what this contest has exposed is a gap in the democratic ideology, which ironically arose from the differences in the candidates' supporters rather than in policy differences between the two. the result - bringing the US one step closer to the inception of a 3-party system.  

let me begin by stating why i think this is a good thing and a victory for the american people.  back in 2004 i was in california discussing the upcoming election with some family who were really psyched to get bushy out of office.  however what they expressed was a lack of enthusiasm for john kerry - 'what we need' - they said - 'is another party.'  at the time, i thought this was crazy talk seeing as how nader, a third party candidate pretty well helped gore lose in 2000, but then it occurred to me - i, as a canadian have a choice of 3 parties - shouldn't they?  

in canada, we have a similar parliamentary system to the UK - and have several parties (as does the US) but the majority of seats in the legislature are held by 3 parties:

conservatives (formerly the progressive conservative) right to centrist
liberals - centrist to liberal
new democrat party (ndp) extreme left

in practice, the position of prime minister goes to the leader of the political party that has the most seats in the house of commons. on several occasions in canadian history no party has had a majority in the house and thus one party, usually the largest, forms a minority government. as of now, the conservative government has a minority government and really needs bipartisan support to pass bills.  the canadian governmental system is just as flawed as any (its certainly not as exciting as the US) but is certainly encourages support from across the spectrum.

so... i believe that this primary brought the US closer to the inception of another party being developed.  even though both candidates have very similar positions, through the nomination process and the concerns of voters have pushed HRC and BO to the center and left respectively.  having choice in a 3-party system would immensely benefit the american people and i believe help to push through legislation through forced bipartisanship.  thoughts?