The apparent gnashing of teeth between some supporters of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton perplexes me. My preferred candidate (John Edwards) dropped out before I could vote for him on Super Tuesday. Compared to Edwards, I think that Obama vs. Clinton is a coin flip, relatively speaking, and I will support either of them in November.
From my perspective, the main difference on economy issues is their approaches to universal health care. Paul Krugman has thoroughly documented that the Clinton universal health care plan is superior to Obama's plan. Quite frankly, I've been disappointed that the Obama campaign has been attacking Clinton from the right side on this... a mandate is essential for any health care plan to succeed.
On foreign policy (specifically, Getting the Fuck Out of Iraq), I was disenchanted with Clinton's stubborn refusal to admit that her initial support for George W. Bush's unnecessary war in Iraq was a mistake. After enduring 7+ years of Dubya's obstinate incompetence, I don't want more of the same from his successor. While I am satisfied with Clinton's current position, Obama has a slight edge by virtue of the fact that he has been right all along on Iraq.
And finally, the intangibles are a wash. No matter who the nominee is, you can bet the right wing noise machine will do their best to slime him/her. Clinton's last name will hurt her among people who don't want to see Bush/Clinton/Bush/Clinton as the names of our 41st-44th presidents. But if she does win, at least we're unlikely to see another Bush follow her, after the way Dubya has screwed the pooch. Clinton will also lose among sexist pigs, the same way Obama will lose among racist assholes, but I'd bet that the vast majority of those idiots would never vote for a Democrat anyway.
So instead of celebrating the differences, let's find our common ground. Both Obama and Clinton recognize the importance of getting out of Iraq. Both candidates oppose extending Bush's tax cuts, and both at least recognize the importance of universal health care. Both candidates believe evolution as scientific fact, and support stem cell research. And to my knowledge, both candidates arrived at the conclusion that torture is wrong without ever having been tortured themselves. I don't think any Republican candidates meet those criteria.