There’s been some discussion this week about whether Hillary Clinton, despite a record of reliable Democratic partisanship, might actually prefer that John McCain win in November if Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee. This occurred on the heels of a Gallup poll that showed that a whopping 28% of Clinton supporters are prepared to vote for a conservative Republican if Clinton doesn’t win her party’s nod, a far higher percentage than that of Obama supporters.



Yesterday, Clinton offered some very helpful remarks that pushed the narrative in the other direction.

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.

Clinton was asked by a questioner in the audience here what she would tell frustrated Democrats who might consider voting for McCain in the general election out of spite.

“Please think through this decision,” Clinton said, laughing and emphasizing the word “please.”

“It is not a wise decision for yourself or your country.” The crowd applauded loudly.

“First of all, every time you have a vigorous contest like we are having in this primary election people get intense,” Clinton said. “You know, Sen. Obama has intense support. I have intense support.” But, she added, the “significant” differences between her and Obama “pale to the differences between us and Sen. McCain.”

“I intend to do everything I can to make sure we have a unified Democratic party,” Clinton concluded. “When this contest is over and we have a nominee, we’re going to close ranks, we’re going to be united.”



See? Was that so hard?