2008 Presidential Primary Contest Is History -- In More Ways Than One

Iowa's caucus was the starting point, and last night's Montana and South Dakota primaries were the finish line, but the fight for the Democratic nomination appears to be over at last. It's history - and, in many ways, it's historic.

The obvious way this race has been historic is that it now positions Barack Obama as the first person of color representing a major party as its presumptive nominee for the nation's highest office. But there are more firsts, or historic aspects, to this 2008 campaign (which actually began in 2007), and today's the day to savor them.

First, there's the delight in witnessing a contest in which the conventional wisdom from most TV and print media, time and time again, turned out to be conventional stupidity. The media were quick to count John McCain out, slow to count Obama in, and premature in crowning Hillary Clinton early and making too much of the national prospects for everyone from Rudy Giuliani to Fred Thompson.

Second, there's the satisfaction, from the perspective of a TV critic and historian, that comes from the fact that Obama won his party's backing, or at least the necessary delegate and super-delegate count in the electoral college, without going negative. If he and McCain manage to conduct a civil campaign based on issues more than attacks, it'll be reversing a trend that has calcified and poisoned presidential politics for decades.

Third, regardless of your political persuasion, and regardless of which candidate you personally supported or support, this 2008 presidential election race already has emerged as an amazingly dramatic, surprising and pivotal contest. Every election is important, but, to paraphrase Animal Farm, some are more equal than others.

This one seems huge. And for the Democrats, one big, long chapter ended last night -- and the next chapter began immediately. Already today, morning talk and news shows are buzzing about whether there really should be a Obama-Clinton ticket. On CNN, John King went so far as to work out the possibilities on his infamous touch screen. Instead of just Blue states and Red states, his what-if board had baby blues, too, indicating states won by Clinton in the Democratic primaries, and so on.

There's a lot of second-guessing, and third-guessing, left to come. My guess is, if trends continue, a lot of those guesses will be dead wrong. But we are witnessing history here, so enjoy it... and whatever your opinions and beliefs, participate in it.