Don't be bitter, Hillary, you prepared for this election as best you could with lots of experience. You were the right person at the right time but the country wants something different. If the opposition were not Barack, there would be someone else standing in your path to the Oval Office. If anyone is to blame for your failure to be nominated and elected, it is George W. Bush. If he had been a better president, the country would accept more politics as usual. Unfortunately for you and for the country, George W. Bush has discredited politics as usual, and the country is demanding change. As someone steeped in Washington with years of experience of the usual sort, you are unable to present yourself as representing change.

What should you do now? Drop out gracefully and work to elect Barack as our next president. The country really needs his leadership and will appreciate your efforts. Perhaps you will be asked to serve in his government at the cabinet level. If not, you can remain in the Senate to help pass the reforms needed to set right the wrongs of the Bush administration. If you choose to leave government, you and Bill, together or separately, can tell your story to audiences eager to hear your side of the story. Certainly the country will be more interested in your story than Bush's self-justifications.