She’s not a bargaining chip.

Nowadays whenever something pops up in my RSS feeds labeled “Huffington Post”, usually via an aggregator such as memeorandum, I’ll ignore it (here’s why). Since so many in the blogosphere simply Ctrl-V its content into their own writing – I’ve been guilty of it as well – it’s pretty hard to avoid. But I actually did stop and read Hilary Rosen’s latest post, if only because of its significance in the bigger picture. (I would have missed this if it weren’t for John Aravosis @ AMERICAblog):

Senator Clinton’s speech last night was a justifiably proud recitation of her accomplishments over the course of this campaign, but it did not end right. But she didn’t do what she should have done. As hard and as painful as it might have been, she should have conceded, congratulated, endorsed and committed to Barack Obama. Therefore the next 48 hours are now as important to the future reputation of Hillary Clinton as the last year and a half have been.

I am also so very disappointed at how she has handled this last week. I know she is exhausted and she had pledged to finish the primaries and let every state vote before any final action. But by the time she got on that podium last night, she knew it was over and that she had lost. I am sure I was not alone in privately urging the campaign over the last two weeks to use the moment to take her due, pass the torch and cement her grace. She had an opportunity to soar and unite. She had a chance to surprise her party and the nation after the day-long denials about expecting any concession and send Obama off on the campaign trail of the general election with the best possible platform. I wrote before how she had a chance for her “Al Gore moment.” And if she had done so, the whole country ALL would be talking today about how great she is and give her her due.

Instead she left her supporters empty, Obama’s angry and party leaders trashing her. She said she was stepping back to think about her options. She is waiting to figure out how she would “use” her 18 million voters.

But not my vote. I will enthusiastically support Barack Obama’s campaign. Because I am not a bargaining chip. I am a Democrat.

It’s one thing for supporters or “superdelegates” to change their minds, but when one of your most powerful surrogates and most vocal apologists decides to jump ship (and possibly even drilled a big hole in the bottom of it in the process), that speaks volumes.

So there you have it. One less “yay, Hillary!” talking head and one-time corporate shill appearing on Hardball in order to make the rigging on the FAILboat appear more secure. Okay, back to the boycott.