Most Americans are probably familiar with the phrase, "It ain't over until the fat lady sings." It's a colloquialism which basically means that it's a mistake to declare defeat prematurely. I think that it's very applicable to the area of politics.
I just visited the home page for MSN.com, and there was an editorial article saying that Hillary should gracefully exit the presidential race now, in order to avoid a humiliating defeat at the polls.
I have a real problem with that argument.
It isn't that I favor Hillary over Barack Obama. Frankly, I couldn't care less whether Hillary beats Obama or the other way around. Neither one of them is pro-life, so neither one of them will be getting my vote.
What I object to, when I contemplate the aforementioned article, is the idea that candidates ought to drop out of the primaries before all voters have been granted an opportunity to vote and to have their votes counted.
To my way of thinking, there's only one legitimate reason for a candidate to drop out of the race, and that's if the candidate has run out of funds and all of the available evidence suggests that asking for additional funding would amount to asking people to finance a hopeless cause. If there are still available campaign funds, then the candidate owes it to those who donated those funds (and often their considerable time and hard work as well) to do his or her best to win.
As for the idea that Hillary ought to be motivated primarily by the desire to avoid a "humiliating" defeat, all I can say is that if she cannot deal with defeat, then that in itself ought to prove that she is unfit to be president. When it comes to politics, the prospect of potential defeat comes with the territory. And defeat in one election doesn't necessarily mean that there are no prospects for future success.
If you don't believe me, just ask John McCain.
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