Hope isn't enough to close the deal

The primary reason I am choosing Obama over Clinton is that I think Obama has a better chance to build the Democratic Party and the Democratic Brand and that doing both is essential to the long-term health of the progressive movement and that that movement is essential to the long-term health of this country.

But, you see, I'm a middle-class white guy who makes $100,000 a year, lives in a nice suburban home, has good health insurance, a healthy family and really very few worries (other than the fucked up leadership in this country). So I can afford to be thinking long-term about the party and how that helps out the country.

A lot of other people can't afford that luxury. A lot of other people can't afford to think about how Obama will make the party better or will help the country in the long run. They need help now.

Hope is a powerful motivator, but Hope does not put food on the table.

People who have to live from day-to-day can't afford to make their political decisions based on just Hope. They need something more and for many of them, Hillary Clinton offers them that something more.

Obama supporters do themselves and their candidate no favor when they disparage the motives of Clinton supporters. They do themselves and their candidate no favor when they dismiss nearly half of the Democratic electorate as tired vestiges of the old live-in-fear crowd. They do themselves and their candidate no favor when they imply that Clinton supporters are dupes or, even worse, racists, for not buying into the Great Obama Hope.

I love the message of Obama, but let's not be arrogant about it.