Back in March, I and other members of the Afrosphere Action Coalition (AAC) (which participated in organizing the 30,000-participant Jena Six March) circulated a "Concede Now, Hillary!" petition which says, for the most part, the same things that the present Color of Change petition says. The AAC petition says:

(1) The Democratic Party base has spoken. The delegate count shows that Senator Hillary Clinton cannot win the nomination on the strength of earned delegates, based on the will of the voters.

(2) Mrs. Clinton's political attacks upon Senator Barack Obama have increasingly appealed to and sought to increase resentment against others based on the color of their skin.

(3) This divisiveness is regrettable because, via the presidential candidacy of Senator Obama, the vast majority of African-Americans stand united with millions of white Americans and Americans of all colors, genders, ethnicities and religious backgrounds, erasing divisions to implement a program of Democratic change.  AOL News; Senator Hillary Clinton Must Concede Defeat and Support the Democratic Presidential Ticket

So, when I received the petition from Color of Change today, I immediately sent it to all of the members of the AfroSpear family of blogs, as well as BlackNetAction, and to my contacts at the same national newspapers that contacted us to write about the Jena Six March.  

When the Washington post contacted me for comment on Billary's color-aroused politics today, I said,

Bill Clinton has bombed his bridges to the Black community.  He thinks he doesn't need us and he'd better hope he's right, because we wouldn't save his wife even if her hair were on fire.   If her candidacy depends on Black votes, then it's dead in the water.

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I was a strong Edwards supporter until the very end. After a few weeks of hearing "who do you support now?" from friends and family, I finally decided on Hillary Clinton. She seemed to take a more populist stance and brought a few new states back into play for the Democrats (AR,WV, NM). I don't get Obama's great appeal. Sure, his record is fine, and he gives an OK speech. I just don't think it is his time, and I hate they way everyone assumes since I am young, I must be for Obama. Heck, almost every gay man I know in Philly is for Clinton. My family down in Delaware is for Clinton. Even most of my friends from college, even some Republicans are for Clinton! I honestly do not know one person who is for Obama, though I know that is really weird.  

So why am I voting for him?

Well, I want this primary over with. Sure I would have preferred Edwards, then Clinton. But, you know what? I feel Clinton has lost at this point. I don't like how her campaign has been run, and I think she has surrounded herself with some awful "talent". Heck, I am just happy Delaware actually mattered for once, and now PA. I like how Obama is building a ground game in states. I still don't know if he has a shot at the GE, but I can't say for certain Hillary would be better. I feel its time for her to drop out soon. I don't want this going to the convention. I am voting for what I think is best for the Democratic Party and I've come to the conclusion that Obama might just be better. Am I certain? Nope, but that's my reasoning anyway.

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I am writing this diary in response to a question posed by a reader here about whether there are Obama supporters who disagree with the rhetoric and tone of the clips going around of Rev. Wright.

I support and continue to support Barack Obama, and I do disagree with the rhetoric and the tone expressed in those clips.

I think there's a danger that people will get a false impression of Senator Obama's political views and his private faith life from them.

Let me explain...

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Over the past two weeks, Hillary has adopted the advice of Republican, neo-con luminary William Kristol.  In his analysis of the Dem race in the aftermath of Wisconson, Kristol, appearing on Fox News, suggested that HRC's only chance was to "go after" Obama on his fitness to be Commander-In-Chief.  He said, "she needs to use a good dose of fear." Over the past week Hillary has done so with tactical brilliance and strategic blindness.

She has coupled going hard negative on national security, the NAFTA memo, and Rezko, with a claim to be the victim of media bias.  This media bias claim has worked very well. On one hand, it has kept pressure on the media to go after Obama on the NAFTA memo and the Rezko case.  On the other hand, it has kept the media from effectively calling Hillary on just how negative her campaign has become.  There are several indications that this tactical coupling may be enough to give Clinton the narrow victory she needs to justify staying in the race, however this tactical manuevering can do little to change the basic strategic realities:

HRC has almost no chance to overcome Obama's pledged delegate lead.  The only way Hillary can win the nomination is to continue going negative in the remaining primary states while simultaneously trying to overturn the will of the rank and file through a combination of superdelegates, and through a last minute rule change to seating the MI and FL delagations even though she has previously agreed to the DNC'c sanctions.  

The basic reality is this, although this strategy does have a slim possibility of success, HRC will have to tear the party apart to win in this manner.  If this is the only way she can win, it will not be worth having.

The most likely outcome of the Clintons tactical manuevering is to increase the level of bitterness in the party, waste time and money that could be spent on preparing for the fall campaign, and damage Obama who will likely emerge as the Dem candidate no matter what Clinton tries.

If she does manage to win by seating the MI and FL delegations, she will win by loosing.  Millions of voters including AAs, young voters, and progressives are not going to accept the outcome of such a process.  She will be the head of a dispirited and fractured party that has alientaed its young voters and enraged a substantial portion of its own base. Many will stay home, many will vote for Nader, many will vote vfor McCain.  Because she begins with nearly 50% of the voters unwilling to support her, Hillary can ill afford to loose any of the Dem base.  It is hard to imagine that she could win under such a scenario.

Unless Hillary wins by large enough margins tonight that she has a legitimate chance to at least win the overall popular vote, we can only hope that the party leadership will quickly close ranks around Obama.  

I realize that many are extremely passionate in their support for Hillary, but a realistic assessment of the current strategic situation suggest that she can only hope to win the nomination under circumstances that make it improbable that she could win in the fall.  Dems cannot afford a repeat of 1968.  Dems cannot afford to loose.  The country cannot afford four more years of a failed economic policy and four more years of war.  

If we care about our party and our country, it is time to tell Senator Clinton that it is time to let go.  We will have a woman President soon, it just isn't going to happen this year.  Continuing to try will only damage our party and end in failure.

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As we know, idiot voters (cultists) have been voting for Barack Obama in overwhelming numbers of late. He will doom the Democratic Party!

I am calling all Clinton backers to take action TODAY!

We must get Clinton supporters to show up at EVERY Obama rally with megaphones and tell all of these cultists showing up to worship Obama that they are, well, cultists, idiots and suckers!

I suggest using the following phrases to dissuade these idiots from supporting the sick, sad Obama:

"You are all in a cult! You are fools! You are idiots if you support this man! Idiots! Suckers!"

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