Voters in several states have spoken and congratulations are in order to Senator McCain on his securing the GOP nomination last evening.

Governor Huckabee should also be applauded for his gracious concession speech and offers of assistance to the Republican Party going forward.

What next? Who knows, but I hope this foolishness which has gone on with many of the political pundits on the right ends and they realize that it is not their place to encourage people to tinker with the Democratic nomination. This is not some kids game we are playing here. It is a Presidential election.

When I read of someone registered in the Republican party write that they held their nose and voted for either Senator Clinton or Obama just to drive the numbers one way or another it reminds me of all I have grown to dislike about politics in this country.

Sure, a brokered Democratic convention would be a great thing for the GOP if in fact it were bloody and neither candidate could win without the influence of the superdelegates. But here is the sixty-four dollar question…who among us knows what deals have been or will be made in the near future which would pit the GOP against a Clinton/Obama or Obama/Clinton ticket?

Even factoring out the crossover vote in most of the states where it is permitted, the numbers are staggering for both of these candidates. Link them together…and well I think the picture is pretty clear.

There was a very interesting question posed last evening by one of the talking heads on Fox. If you are a Republican crossing over to vote for Clinton or Obama in an attempt to skew the numbers in the Democratic Primary (but would never consider casting your ballot in that fashion in the general election) and your vote assisted that candidate in securing the party nomination and eventually winning the Presidency, how would you feel then? I wonder.

If as a Republican you find you cannot support Senator McCain, that is fine, but please can we stop all this nonsense (and gloating in many corners) about how some look forward to negatively influencing the Democratic primaries.

Vote Democrat if you wish but do it for the right reasons, because it is a candidate you believe in. If not, that old saying of be careful what you ask for just might rear its ugly head.

* Update: That didn’t take long. Speaking this morning, here’s Senator Clinton:

NEW YORK (CBS) ― Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton hinted at the possibility of a democratic “dream ticket” with Sen. Barack Obama.

Speaking on the Early Show on CBS, Clinton said “that may be where this is headed, but we have to decide who is on the top of the ticket.”

Update 2: Senator Obama when questioned about the dream ticket scenario:

“We are just focused on winning the nomination. That is my focus. I respect Sen. Clinton. She has been a tenacious opponent. It is premature to talk about a joint ticket.”

Premature? How do you interpret that?

If it were me up against the Clinton machine, I would make it clear to the party elites that I would accept nothing short of the nomination for President if entering the convention with a majority of delegates.

I hope I am wrong here, and I will be happy to admit it if I am, but it is beginning to look as though the fix might be in place to avoid a devisive convention.