Should She Quit?

At this point it's become clear that, barring something ridiculous happening, Hillary Clinton will not catch Barack Obama's delegate count. Since neither Florida nor Michigan will re-run their primaries, there's even less room for Clinton to make any dents in Obama's lead. But on the other hand Obama wont be able to pull away over the next few months.

In my experience, and to my knowledge, this is an unprecedented situation. We have two candidates who can both claim to be the choice of half the party. Hillary could bow out at this point, but why wouldn't that be abandoning the 49% of the democratic party that supports her?

Before Ferraro had her little race-based implosion, she wrote an op-ed piece in the NY Times about the origins of the super delegate system. This is what she said:

Today, with the possibility that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will end up with about the same number of delegates after all 50 states have held their primaries and caucuses, the pundits and many others are saying that superdelegates should not decide who the nominee will be. That decision, they say, should rest with the rank-and-file Democrats who went to the polls and voted.

But the superdelegates were created to lead, not to follow. They were, and are, expected to determine what is best for our party and best for the country.

Clinton is not washed up in any measure. So bowing out now, while noble, isn't at all necessary. The super delegates will end up deciding this. And it would be a violation of their duty if, instead of making up their own minds, they bowed to "the will of the people".

The people are speaking with two voices and neither side will give in. It's up to the super delegates to break the tie.