Hillary's Just Asking the Super Delegates to do Their Jobs

It's obvious that I've been favoring Barack in the Democratic primary, but I find the calls for Hillary to drop out of the race somewhat puzzling. As I understand it, pro-Obama pundits and pols believe Hillary should withdraw because:

*Even if she wins all the remaining primaries, she will not have enough pledged delegates to win the nomination.
*Even if some compromise is worked out with the Michigan and Florida delegations, she will still trail Obama in the popular vote.
*Her staying in the race will only further tarnish Obama, to the benefit of John McCain, thus costing the Democrats the fall election.

None of those reasons, in my judgment, are enough to warrant withdrawal from the race. Even though Obama has won more states, pledged delegates, and popular votes than Hillary, he is in the same boat she is in: he needs the support of more so-called "Super Delegates" to get the nomination. By staying in the race, Hillary will force those delegates to do their job.

If the super delegates gave the nomination to Clinton at this point, would I find that to be outrageous? Sure, but I might at least respect them for taking a stand.

As I see it, Hillary (at least as of this week) is not willing to give the super delegates an "easy way out." I'm quite sure that in her mind she feels that the fact that she has won most of the big states, and most of the states where only registered Democrats can vote, gives her a legitimate claim to the nomination. She too will find it "outrageous" if and when Obama gets the nomination because the votes of super delegates put him over the top.

This post is in no way a defense of the Clinton candidacy. I have found much of her campaigning over the last few weeks to be pandering of the most repulsive kind. Still, if there are any "bad guys" in all of this, it is the so-called super delegates (or is it super cowards?) like Herb Kohl who for some reason refuse to take a stand.

The super delegates could have the nominee chosen today if they wanted to. Hillary deserves criticism for lots of things, but forcing the super delegates to come out of the shadows is not one of them, at least not for me.