Do not, however, expect them to break for Obama.
Yeah, I saw the protest signs. I heard the C-SPAN callers. I saw that YouTube video of some lunatic Hillary supporter who came all the way down from New York to call Obama "an inadequate black male."
To tell you the truth, I bet you a whole bunch of them are Republican operatives and Freepers just looking to further distract and extend the Democratic primary season. I don't think a whole bunch of them would've voted Democratic in November even if Hillary was the nominee.
But in between those nutcases and a Presidential candidate who thinks a persistent war of attrition will be interpreted in the electorate as resolute strength and perseverance, are those Hillary supporters who see the "pro-Hillary protests" as well as a candidate who they feel has been abused, and who wants to shamelessly project that she is being abused.
I don't believe in deathbed conversions. I find it far-fetched for anyone who has believed in something for so long will suddenly change their mind right before the end. Do any of you?
Herein lies the problem for Obama. There was a time, let's say right after North Carolina (despite the WV and KY results), when Hillary could've said, "Yes, I was defeated resoundingly and have been facing defeat in a string of contests all primary season long, and given the facts on the ground, it's time to unite behind a Democratic nominee."
(h/t to ActivistGuy for the mini-vocabulary lesson) As incredulous unbelievable as that scenario could be, it is now more incredulous unbelievable than ever for any of us, Hillary or Obama supporter alike, to see any sort of Hillary concession that does not include a nasty floor fight in Denver. Their candidate is just too resolute, too eager, too dedicated to just, one day, throw in the towel. Everything between the North Carolina/Indiana primaries and today's Rules and Bylaws Committee displayed a candidate who believes the word "quitting" is treasonous vocabulary.
Now you throw in the media, the protesters and the festering of emotions that has been building thanks to the benefit of time, time that none of us were obliged to give Hillary in the first place. Every mistake she makes, the Hillary movement (not necessarily the Hillary campaign - a distinction which is the point of my diary) has been ready to play the victim card in the face of what they see as overreaching by the Obama camp and his supporters.
Whether by accident or by her own design - and I will concede that it might be the former - Hillary is now the poster-child for victimhood. Hillary will be portrayed as someone hated by everyone in the political world, political operatives and assassins who will stop at nothing to ultimately destroy her.
So imagine, next week, that Hillary concedes. She tells everyone to unite behind Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic Party's nominee for President of the United States.
There will be fanfare and celebration at the campaign event in some swing state where McCain will have to spend money to be competitive. It will be the right thing to do. It will mark the end of this chapter in the Presidential campaign.
Whether or not you have to suspend your disbelief of Hillary's sincerity, her sincerity, no doubt, will be in question. On that day, rightly or wrongly, Hillary supporters, who ironically have listened to every word she has said and has blindly promoted every talking point her campaign has published, will stop believing her.
Why? Because all the politicians and pundits and supporters who despise women and white people over 50 did exactly what Hillary said they would do - push her out of the race. And mind you, this is not really the case and hasn't been so far, but this is how Hillary supporters will see it. Because there are protesters outside the Marriott calling Obama anti-woman and a Nazi sympathizer. Hillary supporters will wonder to themselves why they aren't just as committed and dedicated as their supposed fellow supporters. And if that's what it's like on their side, imagine how bloodthirsty those cultist Obama supporters are.
No! The Hillary campaign can't be defeated now! We see all those protesters and watch all those YouTube videos and hear all those C-SPAN callers! They're really destroying Hillary! Now it's really time to truly support whatever it was that Hillary campaigned for in the first place!
Forget "inevitability," forget "2 for 1." Their candidate was victimized by a fixed system that was, in opposition to anyone named Clinton, undemocratic and unjust from the beginning.
Hillary's tone will change on the day she concedes to Obama. She will signal to her campaign and her staffers that they must fully pledge their support to Obama's cause. She will most likely do what she promised - to work her heart out for the Democratic nominee.
But I don't believe in deathbed conversions, and Hillary's diehards won't believe in hers. They will say this system is so corrupt, so unyielding that its influence has finally, after all these years, touched Hillary and has forced her to betray her principles. They will say she has bought into the lies and the smears, and that she has become untrue to herself.
They. Will. Not. Believe.
Expect them to break from her. They'll form a new movement somewhere. Perhaps some 527 that will air ads to compel voters to stay home. Perhaps some PAC that might begin funneling support to McCain. Worse yet, perhaps some sort of splinter liberal group that will undermine the Democratic Party for this election cycle and more.
And when Hillary goes on some Sunday morning talk show to plead with her former supporters to come to their senses and unite under the Democratic banner, expect their smears. They'll call her a traitor to the feminist cause, or the cause of the working class, or the cause of political centrism, or whatever. They'll call her a sellout, someone who once fought the good fight more vigorously than anyone they have ever seen, but someone who eventually has been broken by Washington and its politics.
I blame Hillary for this possible and perhaps probably outcome far more than I do anyone else involved in this primary season. Her wishy-washy reluctance to do the right thing has seen her play unwitting victim a few more times than was necessary. Ultimately, her reputation will pay the price, but more importantly, the Democratic and liberal cause will suffer for her misgivings.