I'm not quite ready to slap a "Hillary" bumper sticker on my carbon-belching SUV (I'd put it next to the Dale Earnhardt license plate), but I do admire Sen. Clinton for digging in her heels and refusing to be pushed out of the Democratic presidential race.

Given that she's a member of a party whose Senate majority leader has already declared the war in Iraq lost, and whose House speaker refuses to utter the word "victory," Clinton may be the only Democrat comfortable with the concept of doing what it takes to win. If she becomes the second Clinton to occupy the Oval Office she would do well to display the same toughness and resolve in Iraq as she's showing in the campaign.

With the race so close, Clinton would be a fool to hand Sen. Barack Obama a nomination he has yet to legitimately earn.

It's true there is practically no way Clinton can secure the 2,024 delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination on the first ballot of the August nominating convention. However, the same math applies to Obama. What's rarely reported is that it's doubtful he'll have 2,024 votes on the first ballot either. Sure, he'll have more, but not enough. And although Democratic party leaders squirm each time Hillary or husband Bill mentions it, they are correct when they point out that the rules allow delegates to vote for whomever they want -- even on the first ballot.

One of the public relations heavyweights at the Democratic National Committee needs to inform Chairman Howard Dean that all the pressure exerted on Clinton to get out is not only un-Democratic-like, it's also undemocratic. Clinton is right when she says her pulling out would nullify the voices of voters in North Carolina and seven other states, plus Puerto Rico and Guam, that have yet to weigh in.

The argument that a Clinton nomination would nullify the popular vote (provided she doesn't overtake Obama in the remaining primaries) is downright laughable as well as hypocritical. DNC leaders had no problem nullifying the voters in Michigan and Florida for the sin of trying to make their votes relevant by rescheduling their primaries closer to the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary.

Democrats shouldn't be fretting about the close race they have on their hands -- they should be reveling in the lessons it teaches. Their system of awarding delegates proportional to the popular vote is fairer and more democratic than the predominant winner-take all primary rules employed by Republicans.

Democrats like to brag that the appeal of Obama and Clinton, not the delegate system, is why they have a prolonged fight on their hands. But Republicans had a pretty good lineup too. Their final three of John McCain, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee was every bit as good as Obama, Clinton and John Edwards.

It was the do-or-die delegate system that allowed McCain to dispatch Romney after the Super Tuesday primaries, even though Romney had won 11 primaries and caucuses. At that point, McCain had won 13, hardly a mandate. Had the GOP doled out delegates proportionately, it's a good bet North Carolina Republicans would be choosing between McCain and Romney on May 6, a choice many conservatives still long for.

True, Clinton's continued underdog candidacy could split her party, but only if she or her supporters drag the campaign into the gutter. Despite media reports and punditry that Obama and Clinton are two sides of the same coin, they have significant policy differences.

In foreign policy, Clinton favors the traditional approach of using diplomacy and working through international organizations. Obama has signaled that he won't shy from using personal diplomacy and buying American prestige by passing out economic development programs like candy.

Domestically, Clinton sees government as the mechanism to solve social problems, while Obama seems at least willing to try private-sector solutions.

Both are liberal, and certainly much more progressive than John McCain. But by staying in the race and not backing down from a convention floor fight, Hillary Clinton is giving Democrats a choice of what shade of blue their banner will be in November.

Instead of subverting her act of democracy, Democrats should embrace it.