Your chance to vote: Should Hillary Clinton quit now or stay the course?

A growing number of people, mostly her opponents, are publicly calling for Sen. Hillary Clinton to withdraw from the Democratic presidential contest and cede victory to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. He leads in both total delegates and the popular votes of past primaries but has yet to gain the number required to win nomination.

This would, of course, essentially render meaningless the votes of Democrats in a bundle of upcoming primary states including Indiana, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

Clinton has vowed to continue her struggle, which is her right but could produce a long-term damaging stalemate with accumulating bitterness among Obama supporters, even if she did somehow ultimately win. She's recently talked about taking the fight over disallowed primaries and their delegates in Florida and Michigan to a credentials committee fight in Denver at the national convention.

This strategy effectively consumes valuable general election preparation time and financial resources from whichever Democrat ultimately wins, as the Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain, is already campaigning to unify his party, raise money (he's way behind) and set the scope of his personal campaign narrative.

Or put it this way: If the New York Giants had given up well before the....

end of regulation time in this year's Super Bowl, the overwhelmingly-favored New England Patriots would have gone undefeated. Instead, they're playing off-season golf these days and muttering unprintable things to themselves.

What's your opinion? Should Clinton give up now?

-- Andrew Malcolm

Comments

[S.J. Abrahams,San Fran.]

As an Independent voter;Obama/Clinton, please keep your eyes on The Price. Keep the war mongers, Republicans out of the Oval Office. Pleeeeeaaassseeee.

[Mindy Kaputnik]

To get a truer picture of public opinion you should remove
all the votes coming in from moove on dot org...that vile
and spiritual pestilence spreading G. Soros 5 Th column.

[Ron]

Love ya Hill, but you can't win, and you're campaign is hurting the country. Thank you for your continued service. We'll see you in 2016.

[Greg]

Obama is not playing fair by refusing a revote in MI and FL. He knows he is vulnerable there. How is this behaviour unifying? How is this behaviour hopeful?

His campaign cries of change, unity, hope are hypocritical.

Let ALL the voters vote.......it is unAmerican and unconstitutional to deprive citizens of their vote.

[tom davis]

I voted for Obama in the Callifornia primary, but now that I've learned more about him I wish I could take back my vote. Senator Obama publicly decries anti-Semitism, yet at the same he gives tacit approval with a wink and a nod by continuing to belong to an organization that gave a lifetime achievement award to a man (Louis Farrakhan) who openly and publicly refers to Jews as "bloodsuckers." What kind of an organization honors someone who hates Jews? And why would a man running for President belong to such an organization?

[San Ying]

Do Americans want a president and spouse who are pathological liars? Even after she was caught red handed by CBS cameras, Hillary did not have the courage to say, "I am sorry. I lied."
Another lie was that her father named her after Sir Edmund Hillary. Sir Edmund was totally unknown and had not climbed Everest until years after Mrs Clinton was born.
Her silver haired spouse has a silver-tongued talent too for 'misspeaking' and getting away with the most outrageous untruths.
Do American really want this pair of proven liars in their Whitehouse? Again?

[tokonoma]

March Madness reminds me of the current madness in the Democratic party. Should a team who is down by 10 points with 10 minutes left in the game (a fair analogy) simply forfeit? Clearly, not only does Hillary have the right to stay in the race (trailing only Obama only slightly - ~130 delegates), she has an obligation to see that every Democratic voter has a chance to cast a ballot before the convention.

Face it, even if Obama won every remaining vote (not just primary or caucus, but every vote cast) he would still not have enough pledged delegates to win the nomination outright. Super Delegates exist to insure the Party selects the most viable candidate - finish the primaries and let the Super Delegates decide.

[California democrat]

Why can we just let the process work? Voters in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Indiana, Oregon, etc. are interested in being part of the process. All of these calls to withdraw seem so unfair. Approximately half the voters in the Democratic primaries have voted for Hillary Clinton. They don't want to see the process short changed. To say that she can't win is disingenous. She's about 130 delegates behind with all the states left to go plus the uncommitted superdelegates. Let's let her have a chance and if she loses, then her supporters will feel that she was given an equal chance.

[Debbie Miller]

I used to be loyal to the Clintons, but after the last few weeks, I know I was wrong. Shame on you Bill and Hillary!

A fews weeks ago, I would have never thought I could support Obama, but now I will (even if it feels a little strange!).

We can not continue to divide ourselves and let Bush win again!

Hillary, I know is doesn't feel right to you to exit this race, but the time has come. We need to support the party majority. Please support Obama and let us all move ahead.

-dm

[Lois]

Hillary Clinton has never been afraid to fight for what she cared about. A quality
I admire in a candidate running for president. We need more than change. We need solutions for American. We need to strengthen the middle class, providing affordable and accessible health care, improving our schools, support parents and caring for children, a champion for women, end the war in Iraq, fulfilling our promise to veterans energy independent and global warming, and restoring American’s standing in the world.
Not God damn America…God Bless America!

[tokonoma]

San Ying asked, "Do Americans want a president and spouse who are pathological liars? "

All politicians engage in hyperbole - have you ever known ONE who allowed the truth to stand in the way of a good narrative. I would take Hillary or Obama any day over the liar who occupies the White House now. If Hillary "lied" about being shot at, at least she didn't tell lies that have our troops being shot at.

Bush sent Colin Powell to the UN with fabricated evidence and a lie about weapons of mass destruction. The war in Iraq has waged for five years (four years since Bush declared "Mission Accomplished") and the administration hasn't produced one weapon of mass destruction. Bush is desperate enough that even if he had found a can of Saddam's hairspray he would have declared it a chemical weapon.

I will accept Hillary's little white lie over George Bush's bloody red one anytime.

[Jim Angone]

I am a big Hillary supporter. I am fed up with Barack Obama and the democratic party with even the suggestion that a serious contender with half the votes and imminent winner of two more big states, that Hillary should quit.

i have voted Democratic since 1972. If the Democrats keep pressuring hillary or if Barack Obama is the nominee, then I will be voting Republican and for john McCain.

For those pundits that say that voters like me will come around for Obama, I just say watch me and my family. We are switching parties.

[Hal]

Should Hillary quit now? Doing so would be a magnanimous, not to mention constructive, gesture. It would enhance her image and restore her standing with many of us who have been so disappointed in the destructiveness of the Clintons' (plural!) campaign. It would rehabilitate Bill somewhat, too. She will NOT quit, though. In which case, she and Bill should concentrate exclusively (as should Barack) on beating McCain, while treating her (his) Democratic adversary with new respect and constructive esteem. Hillary needs to find her best self. It's time to start taking back the acrimony.

[N.E. BodybutHillary]

The sad fact is Hillary would do no better running the country than she does running her own campaign. Her continued presence is polarizing Democrats. For the good of the Democratic party , for the good of the country, it is time for Hillary to step down. From this point on, she can only damage the Democratic party.

[N.E. BodybutHillary]

I wouldn't put a great deal of emphasis on this poll unless they also display the number of votes originating from the same ip address.

[JST]

Let the people vote!!! First Obama blocks the voters in Florida and Michigan from having their votes counted through a re-vote. Now his supporters are saying that the voters in Pennsylvania and the other remaining states should similarly be denied a say in the nomination. And no wonder, Obama LOST California, New York, Ohio, Texas, New Jersey, he is on track to lose Pennsylvania, and he likely would have lost Florida and Michigan if they were allowed to vote. Even if winds up ahead in the final count, he got there by suppressing democracy. He should change his slogan to Yes I Can! because he seems to think that with his charm he can get away with anything.

[Matt]

Hillary should stay in as long as it takes to cast her family legacy down the well.

[Steve]

The time is now to unite democrats.

The stakes are too high, and if the path is definite, lets get it on with McCain,

Scenario #1: The frontrunner is prez, the other is vp, and dems control the senate and presidency, and their goals which are 99% the SAME, get accomplished with compromise.
Scenario #2: 2 unelectable candidates, a split party, and repubs with a veto power control the presidency, and NOTHING gets accomplished, more war, and economy is destroyed, full depression enters the economy.

WE can make this happen or we can continue to make this a bad episode of the Jerry Springer edition of american idol. We can be immature or we can wise up and see that democrats are losing and pursuing it further, though you might think you are right, your opinion is nil to nothing compared to experts who have experienced this before, studied it for years, and know all the inside and outs. ... while you are new to this game.

Candidates need to wise up. SO DO WE, IF WE CARE ABOUT THE ISSUES: If we claim to care about the issues we will deal with the results of this race, and force our opinions on our candidates. It's over and we should accept it, experts say the same thing. The time is now, if we all snooze, we ALL LOSE.

[Jim]

Andrew Malcolm:

your analogy of Obama vs Hillary and "What if the NY Giants called it quits before Superbowl against the NE Patriots" is misleading. You should know better than to be sleep-deprived and typing your analogies at 3 a.m.

It's not at the beginning of Superbowl now: that was IOWA. It's about 3 minutes to go and it's now just Garbage Time as Chick Hearns used to say. Game's over, the jello's jiggling, and it's time to call off the starters and save Kobe (Obama) for the Championship game against McCain.

[mona]

Hillary should stay in this race until the first person to reach 2025 wins. As for your poll, you know Obama is going to win. The majority of Obama supporters are under 30 and are internet savy. Hillary supporters are over 60 and I'm sure not as internet savy. All these internet polls where Obama wins by a big margin. Come on, who are you kidding, the kids think his hip, so Im sure there is a high percentage of children who don't even vote who fill out these surveys.

[Demento Maximus]

To : N.E.. Bodybuthillary
So you have the hots for a guy who cant even tell the
difference between the Gospel and racist hate speech.
The guy also promisses to tax you into poverty if,God
forbid,you are earning the scandalous amount of 75k or
more . I dont aspire to martyrdom and want a chance to
vote for a first class lady who is admired universally and
is ready to take your guy under supervision as her VP
and possibly lift him enough to be a credible successor.
Have a heart, as you obviously lack any sense of fair
play.

[pmc]

Why is this country in such a hurry about everything? We were in a hurry to go to war. We are in a hurry for everyone to forget why we went to war. We are in a hurry to 'get on' with the nomination process, even though not everyone has voted. What if YOU hadn't voted yet, and were told your vote didn't count because OB has a mire 130 delegates ahead of Clinton. Which the fact is HE doesn't even have enough to put him in the drivers seat. I wonder is everyone in OB's camp afraid if we have more time to find out more about this junior senator we might be in a hurry to forget about him? It used to be the convention was actually watched because no one KNEW until that night who WOULD get the nomination. It was actually a event of suspense. Now, if what I read by the media driven polls- everyone has figured out not only who will win, but by how much before the votes are all cast. I do recall the media has the bad history of calling elections in the past too early. Perhaps we need to learn to slow down.

[tonyd]

I've said it before but here goes again. With Clinton on the Democratic ticket, more will vote Republican just to stop her getting to the White House. With Obama on the Democratic ticket then McCain has far less chance of winning; so America, do you want another lame duck Republican or a genuine chance to change political direction?

[Romeo Yere]

I definitely concur that Hillary should step down. I don't want another Clinton presidency. Enough with the Bushes and the Clintons. Let some other family occupy the WH. Old Sen. LEahy really laid it down the line and told the bitter truth.

[Obama_HATES_Whites_and_Jews]

Why on earth should Clinton withdraw?! Obama is the one who is a disgrace to the human race--his TWENTY YEAR association with the hatemongering Jeremiah Wright proves that. Aside from the fact that Obama has absolutely NOTHING to point to as qualifications for the office of president of the US, he's a shameful, hateful, racist man who should disappear back into the woodwork where he belongs. Hillary withdraw? DEFINITELY NOT. Obama withdraw? ASAP!!