There's a comment that's been running around in my head about why I'll support Hillary Clinton to the end, and I think this diary is the place to post it.

For all the Obama supporters, for me it's not about delegate counts, any one of several versions of popular vote counts, what percentage of superdelegates would have to go this way or that.  I don't make arguments why the contest is over and Obama's the nominee, nor do I make them about how Clinton is a more electable candidate in the general election.  Other people make those arguments (over and over and over and over.)

For me it's about my discomfort with Obama, and how important it is to me to see him operate on a national stage for a longer time; making the hard calls (not with "present" votes), the necessarily compromised votes, witness him actually unify disparate interests rather than merely talk about it, watch him change something, really, in Washington, and not just talk about it.

The truth is --as I see it-- that Obama will in all likelihood be the party nominee.  Come August the only way we'll see a change in that outcome is if something is grossly bungled by him, or something very damaging comes to light that is not yet widely known.  Both of those things are at least possible, but not a matter of political strategy.

Nonetheless, I want to see Hillary go after every vote she can, every delegate she can get.  It's a matter of principle, for me, because so many have worked so hard for so long to see her through this thing.  Obama has not earned the gift some expect her to give him, his platform of hope and change, looks to me like one of hype and hot air.  If the majority of whatver-you-want-to-count (pop. votes, delegates, media pundits, etc) are going to buy in, then he gets the nomination, and as usual we get what the process gives us.

I've lived with that reality for enough years that I accept it as how it works.  I would vote for him if I had to, but I won't have to.  It won't affect the outcome of the general election.

In the meantime, Clinton deserves respect for going after every vote she can get.  And no, I don't believe she has to "keep sweet", like a FLDS teenage bride for the sake of the guys in suits.  I do believe that when and if she makes the decision to suspend, end, or continue her campaign that she should make that call as she sees fit, and I will support her in that.

This is not just a "what's good for the party" issue.  If Obama can't win a general election under these intensely favorable circumstances because he can't win over ardent Clinton voters, than he has a core problem that is HIS problem.

I believe both Former President and Sen. Clinton will, if/when it comes to that, support Obama's run for president, because they are professionals.  I, however, like many others am not.  And I would be disappointed by nothing so much as seeing Sen. Clinton close up shop before all the votes have been counted  It's not about the math or the map, it's a matter of principle and more importantly, of making history.