Well That Wrapped Up Cleanly

I don't know why she didn't wait for the all-important second round of primaries (it was going to be a round-robin, and the loser would have to leave the island!), but Hillary Clinton has decided to hang him up, which must be terribly depressing to the armchair psychologists who knew, just KNEW, that she was taking it to Denver because "that's who she is."

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton will endorse Senator Barack Obama on Saturday, bringing a close to her 17-month campaign for the White House, aides said. Her decision came after Democrats urged her on Wednesday to leave the race and allow the party to coalesce around Mr. Obama.

Howard Wolfson, one of Mrs. Clinton’s chief strategists, and other aides said she would express support for Mr. Obama and party unity at an event in Washington that day. One adviser said that Mrs. Clinton would concede defeat, congratulate Mr. Obama and proclaim him the party’s nominee, while pledging to do what was needed to assure his victory.

I think the enormity of the whole moment has been lost in the drawn-out process, but I was at the first one-on-one debate in Los Angeles in late January, and it was electric. There's really something pretty great about Democrats recognizing their own diversity. Neither of these two were my first choice, but I'll be happy to support the nominee - and then hold him to the same standard I would any leader (see putting the brakes on the FISA bill for an example). Barack Obama may be cool in the moment, but he's really accomplished something remarkable. Never mind the strategy, based on winning delegates instead of states, brilliant in its simplicity (and I think he knows the general election is winner-take-all and he'll set off with the proper strategy to win that) - this is something really different, both generational and racial and tonal, actually. The "wine track" candidate, the idealist, won without completely compromising his principles and keeping to his core message throughout.

It's a big moment and a hopeful time - but now it's time to work, and to never lose sight of what's at stake, and that not one man will be able to do it alone (nor should anyone presume that all he wants to do is sweetness and light, either).