There is still a way forward for Hillary Clinton

She can exit this race as gracefully as possible; the exact day is less important than how she does it. It can be after the last voters get to vote if that is important to her. That very night, after the last polls close, might in fact be a good time for her to do so. Before then her campaign should work with the Obama campaign to find a harmonious conclusion to the Michigan and Florida stand off, some elegant compromise that lets the Democratic Party say to innocent Democratic voters in those States that they really do matter, while upholding the right of the DNC to issue some type of sanctions for disregarding party rules. There should be no demands made in return for any of this, just ernest cooperation in the healing of rifts inside our Democratic Party.

And then Hillary Clinton should become the best advocate for Barack Obama that our Party has to offer. She should campaign virtually as long and as hard for him as she did for herself during the primaries. She should reach out on his behalf to all those voters who connected well with her but not as well with him, and try to touch them with Obama's message for him. Again, nothing should be demanded of Obama in return for those efforts. But in return for doing all of this Hillary Clinton can regain her dignity and stature in the Democratic Party, if her actions are sincere and freely offered, with no real strings attached.

Hillary Clinton can be a leader in our Party for a long time to come, if she has it in her.

Bill was in office because it isn't about the party it's about them.

Now is the time for her to show that she is not a front person for "the Clinton Machine", but Hillary Rodham Clinton. If she found her own voice through this long campaign she should stop, catch her breath, and learn to use it consistently and effectively to further her deepest ideals without concern over how that might best position her for a Presidential run. Today, inadvertently, may have been Hillary's final wake up call.

I hope that vile woman is FINISHED in politics.

Now we know what the Clinton campaign kept alluding to as to what "could still happen".

I don't want to make political hay out of it by arguing with you. That's just how I feel right now, and I don't think it's going to change for a long, long time.

I very seriously doubt she would retire. I wonder how long it will take her to understand how deeply her motives have been called into question in the minds of millions of Democrats. It is not something that can be brushed off as a bad day on the campaign trail, it builds on other seeds of doubt that long ago were planted, whether fairly or not does not matter in terms of the effect on her reputation.

Hillary just threw away any bargaining chips she thought she still might have. She can't play hardball with anyone now, she no longer has the ball. It must be incomprehensible for a politician to grasp that a life time of effort can all begin to unravel over something that seems so minor in comparison with every thing that led up to it. Edmond Muskie was on his way to the Presidency until he teared up defending his wife's honor at a press conference. Gary Hart may have gotten there too if had not essentially dared the press to catch him in an illicit affair. Elliot Spitzer no doubt never faced the fact that his personal sexual weakness would cast him out of the New York Governor's mansion and into the political gutter over night.

Those moments can happen suddenly with repercussions that are very long lasting. If Hillary Clinton doesn't grasp how this moment completely changed the playing field for her, I think her career really will go seriously down hill from here. Many no doubt will shed no tears over that, which is exactly the point. It is that serious for her.

Half his supporters have been calling her a liar for months and months, calling her a racist, vile, despicable, evil, witch and bitch and everything under the sun.

The last thing we want is for O supporters to look like hypocrites by welcoming her to their campaign. Right?

So is her integrity more important? Or some anonymous message board members?

Good for the goose, good for the gander. Obama should listen to his supporters. Hillary should emulate Al Gore and shun politics. It did wonders for him.

It's hard to get past that at this moment in time.

It might only be regained in hindsight, if she takes the right path now and travels long and hard enough down it for her progress to be clear enough to acknowledge, once that journey is well underway.

But I think she should tone down the rhetoric a little bit.

We need positive visions right now. This whole episode, above and below everything else, deeply saddens me. What I wrote of in this OP and elsewhere on this thread is another positive vision. I hope it, like H20's vision, also comes to pass. I understand that many here tonight are not ready yet now or possibly ever to share in it. I understand also why many Clinton supporters are so hurt and angry by things that are being written and said about her tonight here and elsewhere. Feelings are raw, nerves have been touched. We are at a low point tonight, but we remain on the threshold of a brighter future for America tomorrow.