Fin

It's hard to put your finger on when it really ended for Hillary Clinton. Lots of people will say February or March, after a string of Obama victories. But the end of her campaign began before that, whether it was moments like these or a moment like this, it was Mrs. Clinton's attitude of entitlement that turned off many voters. The "She Who Is Inevitable Meme" backfired on her and she got trumped by a freshman Senator with very little political experience. And how did Mrs. Clinton respond to Obama's wins and clear victories? By going below the belt on Obama, whether it was circulating terrible pictures or using a phrase like "change you can xerox," her Rovian and slimeball tactics are the remains of an old style of politics that Obama rightly put beneath him.

While the Democratic race was extraordinary, it was not completely unpredictable (just ask Andrew Sullivan.) Obama is a fresh, young face after we have seen two prominent political familes exact their power over the White House. It's the election after a dreadful president who has crippled the country and then a African-American male comes forward and begins to talk about "change." It's an incredible story. It's a Martin Luther King Jr. kind of story.

Now that we know who are candidates are, the real debate can finally begin. We will finally hear a real debate about issues like healthcare, Iraq, torture, and foreign policy. Obama and McCain will bear it all to the public. We finally have two presidential candidates and we're not worrying about "who's the lesser of two evils," but who is actually better. I can honestly say, for the first time in my life, that I'm an undecided voter. I don't know who I'll vote for, but I know for sure that I will think long and hard about it.

Let the games begin.