Let’s take a step back from the news and all the punditry for a moment and analyze why Hillary should not drop out of the campaign.

Before continuing it should be noted that where I can, I provide links to information. That being said I am a notoriously bad googler and if you have a link that confirms or denies a statement, please respond with it.

When was the last time all the states got the chance to actually vote and have a say in who their nominee is? This was clearly an issue big enough to cause a handful of states (most notably Michigan and Florida) to move their primaries up earlier than they were held traditionally. Why? These states wanted a say. Traditionally, candidates have been effectively chosen by March, meaning that states which held their primaries after that point have not had their opinions count ever. In a time when most (non)voters feel their vote does not count (re: Gore v. Bush, other numerous voting debacles), I think that Hillary has single-handedly charged the voter mindset, even if it’s clear she stands no chance of winning. And the Democratic party’s voter turnout has been through the roof this primary season. Yes, this is due in large part to Obama’s charismatic campaign and ability to draw in young voters, but is it not also because there is still a competition — and one that Obama supporters feel must be won?

It is, in my opinion, ridiculous to throw around the idea that the Democratic party will destroy itself because neither candidate will fold. It will only make it stronger. McCain secured his nomination rather quickly and easily. Rather than look at it through the lens that Clinton and Obama have provided McCain with material for whichever candidate he faces in the general election, we should focus on the fact that the Democratic candidates will be well seasoned and prepared to counter those arguments. Beyond that, they will be old news by the time the general election rolls around and McCain will actually have to work harder to effectively smear them.

We are quick to forget about the amnesia our culture suffers. We rarely remember things that happened only months before.

It cannot be denied that Hillary Clinton is in a tough position being the first serious female candidate to run for president.

Hillary Clinton is a witch who eats babies. She is a modern-day Medusa who turns men to stone. She is a DemocRAT, with a rodent’s body and long tail. [...]

“This is sociopathic woman-hating,” the feminist author Robin Morgan. “If it were about Jews, we would recognize it instantly as anti-Semitic propaganda; if about race, as KKK poison. Where is our sense of outrage — as citizens, voters, Americans?” In fact, Clinton does have people defending her [...] including an Obama supporter who expressed his frustration with a Facebook group entitled “Hillary Clinton: Stop Running for President and Make Me a Sandwich.” [...]

The title of the group is revealing because its equivalent — “Barack Obama: Stop Running for President and Clean My Pool” — doesn’t exist. It would cause outrage. So why, when racial abuse is rightly taboo, is it acceptable to abuse a woman on the grounds of her gender?

Source

I am not saying that Obama has it easier by any means, but, by contrast, the voter has something to compare him to. And voters who might be made uneasy by him are at least able to say, “At least he’s no Jesse Jackson.” Hillary must show that women have the grit, force and willpower that it takes to be president. While she may have ruined future chances at the presidency (though I personally hope not), she has paved the way and made it much easier for future female candidates to step out. Of future female candidates they’ll be saying “At least she’s no Hillary Clinton.”

And in order to do that, she must not quit. By quitting she only proves that she lacks the strength of character and willpower to stick through the race, no matter how bleak.

So why should Hillary stay in the campaign? For the sake of the first female president, whomever she might be.

But, more immediately — she’s already come this far and given the vast majority of the states a choice to make, why not give the rest of the states a shot? I’d be a little miffed if anyone quit now and I was a resident of say, Oregon.