On the question of whether Clinton should drop out, my position continues to be one of indifference. It's her decision, and I doubt that it matters much either way. I suppose I would prefer that she not attack Obama using GOP talking points now that the nomination has been effectively decided, but even there, as Dilan says, the effects of this kind of attack are greatly overstated. (Barring a major change in fundamentals, if the election is close enough something so minor could turn the election, I've seriously overestimated Obama as a candidate.) I also object to assumptions that Clinton is trying to tear the party apart or sabotage Obama or whatever. I have no doubt that she will strongly support Obama as soon as she concedes. And I think one has to have some empathy here; it can't be easy to run a race you reasonably expected to win, assemble a very strong coalition of supporters, and fall just short. I can't really blame her for not quite wanting to concede the inevitable just yet. If staying in is "selfish," it is only in the sense that anyone running for that kind of office is going to be. On the other hand, claims that she's serving some kind of noble ideal by staying in are no more plausible. I've seen in some quarters claims that it would undermine democracy or some such to state that Clinton should leave. The thing is, candidates drop out of races they can no longer win all the time without anyone claiming that it undermines democracy. Democracy means that Clinton can stay in until the convention if she chooses, and it also means that anybody can suggest that her staying in is bad for the party, decide to stop giving money to a lost cause, come out for Obama as a superdelegate, etc. McGovern is no more doing anything undemocratic than Clinton is. (Obviously, the argument becomes farcical when anyone who suggests that advising Clinton to drop out violates democratic values also sees nothing objectionable about counting the results of "primaries" that wouldn't meet Vladimir Putin's standards of legitimacy.) In another common move, Ambinder says that it "may well be that Clinton refuses to officially drop out until she is satisfied that the voices of Florida and Michigan are heard." The thing is, though, that the voices of Florida in Michigan will not be heard in any meaningful way no matter what happens. A fair contest is not going to be held for their delegates. Michigan Democrats do not suddenly become enfranchised if you declare ex post facto that a one-major-candidate straw poll was an ordinary primary. If "hearing their voices" just means seating them at the convention after it's clear that they won't be used to try to reverse the outcome of the nomination, then Clinton staying in the race prevents the issue from being resolved. In essence, this is a trivial issue. Clinton is neither doing significant damage to the party nor acting as some sort of crusader for democracy by staying in although she's drawing dead. --Scott Lemieux
