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# The Rubicon crossed
- URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/the-rubicon-crossed/
- Published: 2008-05-08T15:05:57.000Z
- Updated: 2019-02-14T22:40:23.000Z
- Author: openUSA Openusa
- Tags: #en, #Migrated, #Import 2026-04-09 18:41

[Brent Budowsky](http://pundits.thehill.com/author/brent-budowsky/?ref=opendemocracy.net) on The Hill blog sees a seismic shift in the fallout of Tuesday's primaries. [Tuesday](http://pundits.thehill.com/2008/05/07/the-night-the-old-politics-died/?ref=opendemocracy.net) was "the night they drove old Dixie down, the night the old politics ended, the night a great new era in American politics truly began. The battle now begins in earnest. On Tuesday, May 6, 2008, the Rubicon was crossed."

The distractions and "old politics" of the Clintons have been finally laid to rest, rejected by voters tired of the hot air of the pundits and the craven pandering of hollow policies like the proposed [gas tax cut](http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKN3038243520080430?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true&ref=opendemocracy.net). Obama's novelty will once more be allowed to rise to the fore.

But is Obama really in the clear? Has his "new politics" - which rest so much on intangibles like his strength of character - hurdled the obstacles of Wright and of "[bittergate](http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/apr/20/internet.barackobama?ref=opendemocracy.net)"?