Hillary's Concession Speech

This had to be among the most difficult speeches Hillary Clinton ever delivered in all her years of public service. After an often bruising campaign of 17 months that ended with Barack Obama emerging as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Clinton suspended her campaign, conceded her defeat, thanked her supporters, and called for party unity against Republican John McCain. Although some might quibble that the tone was insufficiently forceful or heartfelt, I think she sounded the right themes and said everything that needed to be said. It was a necessary, however belated, first step for Democrats to heal their divisions and close ranks for what promises to be a hotly contested and hard fought campaign over the next twenty-two weeks.