With a week of recovery from the serendipitous haze that has engulfed many here at Guilford, it is unfortunately time for us to once again start thinking about issues of, ugh, importance. While many Guilford students are enjoying their prolonged vacation here in the Guilford bubble, and are assuming that Barack Obama is the inevitable nominee, the Democratic presidential primaries remain an amazingly intense and still incredibly competitive race.

This is the closest primary in recent memory, and there’s a lot riding on it. Many analysts and even ordinary citizens agree that this is going to be one of the most pivotal elections ever.

Subsequently, both campaigns are hitting each other hard, close to, but not below the belt.

Hillary Clinton’s campaign has been marred by this nastiness. Many of her top advisers were forced to resign due to personal attacks on Obama.

The most notable, Geraldine Ferarro, who ran for vice president back in the 1980s, basically implied that Obama’s rise is due to his race.

Also, Bill Clinton, once expected to exponentially help Hillary, has been accused of derailing her campaign by being continually negative.

Obama’s campaign is not without negativity as well. The issue surrounding his relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright has caused a huge uproar. Wright has said that American foreign policy could’ve played a role in the 9/11 attacks (how outrageous), but also advocated that people should sing “God Damn America” from the rooftops due to its policy towards many of its own citizens.

That doesn’t look particularly good for Obama, who’s running not only a campaign for unity and change, but also to lead this country that Wright advocates damning.

Obama’s campaign and its supporters have also been pushing Clinton to simply concede defeat and drop out of the race. The only problem is, she hasn’t lost yet.

The next big event in this primary circus is the state of Pennsylvania. The state has a huge population of white, male, blue-collar workers, which Hillary Clinton has long courted and long had the support of.

“The blue-collar vote has been up for grabs for 30 years, and it is the bulk of the Democratic base in Pennsylvania,” said James Lee, president of Susquehanna Polling & Research in Harrisburg to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The controversy surrounding Wright’s supposedly anti-American rhetoric is going to hurt Obama badly in this crucial demographic.

The same goes for Michigan, whose primary was declared null-and-void after daring to go against the mighty Democratic Party (they held their primaries too early for the Party’s liking). The state has an equally significant base, and Clinton is pushing the Party to hold another election so their, but really her, votes can be counted.

Another crucial primary is coming up as well, and it’s happening right here in North Carolina. Arguably for the first time in decades, North Carolina’s primary could severely impact the outcome of this primary.

So if you’re registered to vote in North Carolina or Pennsylvania, do yourself and all of us a favor and vote.

This election is clearly going to have lasting implications on the future of our country, no matter who the nominee is. It’d be a shame to miss it.