This is one of those times where I’m relieved to have left the Democratic Party several years ago. Trying to justify this tawdry denouement to Clinton’s withdrawal from the anti-Ahmadinejad rally next week:

The organizers of an anti-Iran rally Monday rescinded their invitation to Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after Democrats protested that her presence would turn the event into a political rally, McCain campaign and Jewish community sources said.

The Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations created a political tempest by inviting Palin to speak without clearing her invitation with another speaker, Senator Hillary Clinton. Clinton promptly dropped out of the event, saying it would be seen as unduly political. The McCain campaign then pressed Senator Barack Obama to join Palin on the stage in a show of unity against Iran.

The Obama campaign in turn offered to send Congressman Robert Wexler of Florida — who had harshly attacked Palin for slender ties[*] to Pat Buchanan– to the event.

But the appearance that the non-partisan group was aligning with the Republican ticket put the group and its president, Malcolm Hoenlein, under heavy pressure from Jewish Democrats, including members of the conference, members of Congress, and the liberal group J Street, not to give Palin a platform, sources said. Hoenlein told the McCain campaign that he would have to rescind Palin’s invitation or cancel the rally.

The organizers, I’m told, have formally disinvited all elected and political officials, but the move was about Palin.

…as anything except an utterly predictable exercise in applied pettiness from the head of their party would probably give me a nosebleed from the strain. Bonus points for Wexler: as Allahpundit would hopefully agree, picking Wexler for the replacement is a perfect example of the insecure sneer that has crept in Obama’s voice ever since McCain effectively demonstrated that the former can’t actually anticipate the latter’s behavior.

But that’s all right. This is the candidate that the Democrats wanted, this is the candidate that the Democrats deserve, and this is the candidate that the Democrats got; and I offer the pious hope that they fully experience every aspect of their choice, down to the very molecular level.

Moe Lane

PS: If you’re a Democrat who’s bothered by this, don’t bother telling us about it. We don’t care if you’re bothered by this, for a very simple reason: being bothered by it is all that you’ll be doing about it. You know it, I know it – and Barack Obama and his people are basing their campaign around knowing it. So just accept that this is simply one more principle that you’re prepared to gut-shoot in order to win an election, and save us all some valuable time.

[*]For ‘slender ties’ read ‘lie,’ by the way.