(1) Should Clinton Concede/(2) Civility As A Central Issue

It's become fairly common to hear people saying that Clinton should concede, for the good of the party. But I don't think that's true. She still has a good chance to win, and things are close enough that folks in states that haven't voted yet deserve their say. And HRC deserves her shot at convincing them.

What Clinton should do--must do--is this: stop going negative.

Which, as I've noted before, doesn't necessarily mean: stop criticizing her opponent.

Competition and honest, civil debate do not hurt the country or the party. What has poisoned our politics is viciousness. This is, of course, not to say that one can't be critical of one's opponent. Obama is doing this--among so many other things--just about exactly right. His claims about Clinton's and his own health care plans was right on the money. Basically: they're very similar and both are good; I think mine is better and here's why, but reasonable people can disagree once the discussion gets to this level. (One can almost hear the silent but implied: and, of course, I could be wrong.) This is the way reasonable, sensible people discuss issues. This is how agreement is reached and progress is made. This is how people disagree in a way that does not alienate or cause hard feelings. Do things the other way and you get people's backs up, and then agreement is all but impossible. Once people get angry with each other, they become unable and unwilling to be objective. Discussion and inquiry turn into debate and argument. And, as we know, once it gets personal, once it turns into a battle rather than an attempt to find the right answer, people become virtually immovable.

Now, if Clinton is unwilling to be civil and reasonable, then she should drop out. But it's important that we be clear about the reasons: it's not competition we should fear, but the divisiveness that's plagued our politics for the past fifteen years, especially for the last seven. This is, of course, to say that Clinton should drop out unless she is willing to be more like Obama. But that's because Obama is getting this right--and that is one of the things that has so many people so excited about his candidacy. He realizes that the penumbra of viciousness that surrounds so much of our political discourse is not (as some are wont to assert) a useful and essential component or byproduct of democracy. Rather it is inessential and pernicious. There is simply no substitute for respect and good will. Without them, fruitful disagreement and discussion are virtually impossible.

That is to say: Clinton should stay in the race--but only if she can keep it clean.