While I am not a big fan of Senator Obama and have serious reservations about him, he is by far the lesser of two evils. He will be getting my vote come November, and I encourage other Clinton supporters that are dragging their feet to reexamine their thinking.
My decision was based in large part on McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate. To quote Hillary: No way, no how, no McCain and Palin.
Democrats that actively support McCain over what happened during the primaries (the process should be reformed) should put their grievances aside and be pragmatic. McCain/Palin will be damaging to this country.
They have also damaged Hillary. I believe that the persistence of the PUMA movement has harmed Hillary's efforts to pay off her campaign debt. And anyone that knows me knows in RL understands that I am dedicated to her (and probably saw me on Monday). PUMA is a fringe movement now, after the convention.
I want Hillary Clinton to be President, and still maintain that she is by far the better candidate. Obama does not inspire much confidence in me, but I believe that he could grow into the role and help advance our agenda. McCain is inflexible and holds fast to moral certitudes.
Republican policies are poisonous, and Hillary's work in the Senate will be for nothing with McCain in the White house. More importantly, Palin could very well become the new fresh face of conservatism. That scenario cannot be allowed to play out.
We need to change the direction of this country, but that does not mean that we will be able to boil the ocean all at once.
Obama will not be able to deliver on most of his promises - the country is in a bind and cannot afford everything. Also, I am dismayed that Obama has not been talking about universal health care at all, and has reversed himself on key issues like Don't Ask Don't Tell, reproductive rights, and FISA.
But it's better to have him and a collaborative Congress -- with Hillary in a strong leadership position -- than four more years of neglect and bad polices. We'll at least be able to accomplish some of what we want to.
As an aside, the primary changed my opinion of the netroots and the far left of the Democratic party. People like Keith Olbermann are no better than Bill O'Reilly, and anyone that believed that Obama was the second coming and Hillary was evil needs a reality check followed by a swift kick in the ass.
In fact, I will not forgive or forget how Hillary supporters were treated. Obama supporters crossed the line by engaging in OBSESSIVE cyber-stalking, harassment, slandering Clinton supporters as racists, and attempting to obtain real life information about us and then bragging about it (you know who you are). Daily Kos was a crucible of hatred, and Kos himself was complicit in it, lacking any credibility as a political analyst.
I'm voting how I believe I should, but feel absolutely zero unity with the radical elements of this party that will in the long run drag it down as the neocons did to the Republican party.