If you're like me, you were nothing less than disgusted - perhaps sick to the stomach - to see the pictures of John McCain and George W. Yo-Yo having a pow-wow today.

If you're like me, any fleeting thoughts of flipping sides and backing McCain for president should have been deposited in the air-sick bag at that moment.

It's desperation time now. We have to free ourselves from the shackles of the GOP leadership that has us mired in ridiculous military action that some call a "war" while, on the home front, working Americans struggle to keep roofs over their heads while striving for better lives for their kids.

There is a ray of hope. Tuesday's primaries - "Super Tuesday, The Sequel" - provided it.

With each passing day, more elaborate polls are showing that Hillary Clinton - whose campaign seems to have stopped Barack Obama's momentum - is the only viable option to knock off McCain come November.

Better yet, a Clinton-Obama ticket may be the only solution to trump any running mate that Johnny B. Sad can conjure up.

It makes sense. Obama is 46 years young. After eight years of grooming (during which he may learn a second speech) he will be a prime age to be president, at 54, in 2016. That will give the Archie Bunkers out there more time to realize that world was not knocked its axis with a half-black man one heartbeat away from running the show.

And he sure would sure up some of Hillary's weak spots, like with young voters who may go back to playing Wii and shrugging their shoulders if he is not the nominee.

Right now, the obvious math favors Obama. But can't be viewed as the front runner anymore. The time has come to get realistic about this. It was cute for a while to spurn the system and make a statement - kind of like when Sanjaya got all those votes to stay on "American Idol" - but this is not a silly reality show.

The long-term "blue" print - an electoral college map with "blue" states - does not bode well for us "leftties" in a general election that would see Obama taking on McCain. The party's elders (perhaps even a sober Kennedy or two) - not to mention super delegates - will know this come the moment of reckoning at the Denver convention this summer.

If Clinton wins Kentucky, Indiana and West Virginia after the April 22 showdown here in Pennsylvania ... well ... it'll be hard not to have second thoughts. Likely Obama wins in places like Mississippi and Wyoming will rightfully pale in comparison.

And we're not even mentioned the twin elephants in the room - the states of Florida and Michigan. Unless the Democratic party wants to go back using flags with 48 stars, these large - not mention general-election battleground - states will have to be accounted for in some manor. They were both stripped of their delegates by the Democratic National Committee for daring to be as relevant as Iowa and moving up the dates of their primaries. Saying "the rules are the rules" isn't fair to the construction worker in Dearborn, Mich. or the retiree on a fixed income in Hollywood, Fla.

The candidates all agreed not to campaign in Florida and Michigan when the primaries were held and Clinton took each delegate-rich state. There is sure to be a court challenges, but the party can avoid that embarrassment with a simple re-vote. Obama's camp may balk, but there will be no other choice. If Clinton has all the momentum by then - and she should, considering that Obama-mania seems to have peaked out - she'll win them all over again and possibly be at or close to the number of delegates she needs to be the nominee.

But she won't be winnable unless she reaches out to Obama at the convention.

This is how it has to happen, if it's going to happen at all.

If not, get ready to be disgusted.