Column: Hillary, Stop!

This story was written by Marco Santana, Daily Eastern News

You can't win them all. In fact, more often than not, disappointment teaches you a few of life's basic lessons.

For example, being a gracious loser is just as important as being a gracious winner.

Unfortunately, nobody taught Hillary Clinton this lesson. A number of superdelegates moved their support to Barack Obama on Tuesday and this gave him enough delegates to pass the magic number of 2,118 delegates.

This makes Obama the first black presidential candidate from a major party in the country's history. A truly historic occasion, whether you are a Republican or Democrat. In fact, had either candidate won, they'd have made history.

Yet, in her speech on Tuesday night, which many experts expected to be a concession speech, Hillary Clinton did not congratulate Obama. Instead, she ran off her usual rhetoric: here are the states I won, this makes me the most elect-able candidate and we could take this to the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 25-28 in Denver.

What's more, she told her subjects that she would "be making no decisions tonight," obviously pandering to the screaming crowd who would be mortified if she were to withdraw.

In the ultimate desperation effort and slap in the face of Obama, his supporters and Democratic leaders who are getting tired of her posturing, she called on her followers to log on to HillaryClinton.com and tell her what to do.

Less than 24 hours after her speech, users posted a couple of interesting ideas.

No. 1: They told her to join a dream-team ticket as Obama's vice president.

Obama has never said there was any interest in that ticket. Clinton's no slouch and no dummy. She knows how to play the game. And she played it to her advantage Tuesday night.

She told anybody listening to her speech - hello, Barack - that she wanted the "18 million Americans who voted for (Clinton) to be respected, to be heard and no longer to be invisible."

Translation: pick me as vice president, pay off my debts or put me on your staff or you're saying their votes are meaningless. Clinton instigated the negotiations before she considered that she should have no say in the matter. She lost.

No. 2: Several supporters have asked her to run for president as the Independent nominee.

Contrary to Clinton belief, she can't win a general election without Obama and Obama wouldn't have a chance with the Democratic voters split. In Clintonland, this means give me as much as I can get or I take my ball and my supporters and go home.

Republican presidential nominee John McCain would dominate the split liberals and run away with the election.

Obama's speech on Tuesday was uplifting and hopeful. It's a common trait of his speeches.

Meanwhile, John McCain stares at a teleprompter and stumbles through awkwardly.

Rumors surfaced Wednesday evening that Clinton would drop out and concede defeat as early as Friday. This would help re-unite a party that has been polarized during the past 16 months.

However, if these rumors are true, it'll be better late than never.