Test of Loyalty

Funny enough, I'm not much in the mood tonight to parse delegate counts and demographic trends. Maybe it's because none of the math is bringing any clarity to the road ahead. I understand the evening is young and all that, but the party rules that value the input of all voters make it nearly impossible to crown a nominee if each candidate insists on dragging this out until Denver.

My support for Obama has always been about what I thought would be best for the Democratic Party, and by extension, the whole country. My original favorite was Joe Biden, who seemed to have a vastly superior command of foreign affairs in a field of candidates who were mostly simpatico when it came to domestic issues. Biden's early drop out sent me over to the Edwards camp. I thought Edwards combined several admirable traits; a fighter, electability, charisma, and a focus on the Americans left behind by other Americans.

When Edwards dropped out, it wasn't very hard for me to go for Obama over Hillary. If only based on who could win this fall, Obama had the better chance between the two to bring positive change to the country. It's no secret that few Democrats inspire more nastiness on the part of the right than Ms. Clinton. While most of this is undeserved on her part, I must confess my own suspicions of her pro-corporate background, her pro-war and anti-free-speech positions, and what I perceive to be a cold and calculating personality behind a highly contrived smile. Mostly, I was suspicious of her loyalties and wondered how much I really trusted that she wasn't part of the very same establishment I wanted to raze. In essence, I was never really sure whose side she was really on.

Hillary can make a liar out of me tonight by dropping out of the race. I think it is clear as day that she can drag out this primary until the cows come home if she really wanted to. If she cares more about her own ambitions than she does the party and the country, this is exactly what she should do. There is no altruistic basis upon which the decision to keep fighting can be made. If Hillary believes that the country is best served by the principles of the Democratic Party, she must also believe that a Democrat should prevail this fall. If she believes that a Democrat must prevail this fall, and that a prolonged nasty primary makes this less likely, then she must end this thing post haste.

This is a test of loyalty now. For Hillary, and for me. Like most Democrats, I truly want to believe in Barack Obama. It'd be nice if I could truly believe in Hillary Clinton as well.