Last night was exciting!  I admit I got sauced. If you can't get drunk and celebrate the victory of the candidate you've been supporting for so long, then when can you...

Hours before the nomination was claimed, I posted on TPM that Hillary would graciously and unequivocally concede her hard-fought race.  I was pilloried as naive.  My reason for coming to this conclusion was simple: I used the words of the candidate herself.  She has stated that she will support the democratic nominee.  Considering that Obama had met the metric necessary to clinch the nomination, I believed that Hillary would acknowledge this fact and embrace Obama.  To those who claimed I was naive: you were right.

She said in her speech that she had won the most votes.  She argued that her "18 million" supporters were not going to remain "invisible".  When asking herself a question, and then answering it--an action my mother always said was a sign of schizophrenia--she said she wanted to win the war, provide "universal" healthcare, and fix the economy.  Apparently in contrast to her opponent and the Democratic party who don't share these goals.

I think there were many ways that Hillary could have made the speech better without necessarily conceding the race.  Instead she chose a confrontational tact.  She decided to undermine the legitimacy of the presumptive nominee.  She decided to stoke the flames of unrest among her supporters.  She chose to fight on after her opponent has already left the ring. 

Hillary can still redeem herself, but the timing is short.  She can not wait a week to lick her wounds.  She has a few days, at most, to concede gracefully and begin the process of healing the party.  To fail to do that weakens herself and the party she claims to support.

Twenty four hours ago I claimed that Hillary would do the right thing.  Now I'm not so sure.