Hillary to Supporters: Don't Vote for McCain

Good for her, she's talking sense again. From CNN:

Hillary Clinton pleaded for partisan unity on Thursday, urging Democrats not to abandon their party to vote for John McCain if their preferred candidate fails to secure the nomination...

..."First of all, every time you have a vigorous contest like we are having in this primary election, people get intense," she continued. "You know, Sen. Obama has intense support: I have intense support."

Clinton stressed that there are "significant" differences between her and Obama, but said "those differences pale to the differences between us and Sen. McCain.

This is a new and refreshing development in strategy. Heretofore, Clinton seemed to suggest that McCain would be a better choice than Obama, if she were to lose the nomination. I hope we can close the book on that ambiguity. If you are a Democrat, and you admire Hillary Clinton's policy proposals, then Barack Obama is your most sensible second choice. Likewise, if you really kick the tires and check under each Democrat's hood, then Hillary is your plan B, should Barack fail to win.

Obama made a similar entreaty to his backers on ABC's "World News":

"There are going to be some bruised feelings, whoever the nominee is. We are going to have to come together and remind ourselves that there is a heck of a lot bigger difference between either Senator Clinton or myself, and John McCain."

According to a new Pew poll, 32% of Clinton supporters say they'll vote for McCain if Hillary doesn't take the nomination. An almost identical 28% of Obama's faithful claim they'll pull a Republican lever if Clinton tops their candidate.

Perhaps cooler heads are starting to prevail. I'd like to think so, anyway.