In the immortal words of Charles Dickens:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,we had everything before us, we had nothing before us,we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going directthe other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on itsbeing rec eived, for good or for evil, in the uperlative degree of comparison only."

And so it was with the speeches tonight by the two remaining candidates for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. With the goal posts moved to include the seated delegations of Michigan and Florida, Senator Barack Obama passed the final yardstick with the projections of the South Dakota primary. The race is over in every respect except the actual conduct of the party's convention in Denver.

Senator Clinton spoke first. She spoke of the great campaign of her colleague from Illinois and the honor she had of running with him in this historic race. She did not honor him by conceding his final victory. Rather, she spoke of her 18 million votes. She did not honor him by noting his lead in delegates or states won or most votes gained in states with official primaries. Instead, she focused on her own calculation, which yielded an imaginary victory for herself in the popular vote. She did not focus on the future, other than on those platform planks that she deems essential. Rather, she focused on the past, even to the point of listing the states where she earned victories, while ignoring the significantly larger number of states where her opponent earned victories. She mentioned Texas and New Hampshire, while failing to note that she earned fewer delegates in both of those states than did her opponent. She spoke explicitly of the time for a decision about what to do next. And then explicitly declined to make that decision; indeed implored her 18 million voters to go to her website and share with her their thoughts about the next steps to take. It is, after all, about her and the people who voted for her; not about her party or her country.

Senator Obama followed. Almost certainly with full knowledge of what Senator Clinton had said before him. After thanking his grandmother, wife, children, and staff, he thanked his opponents in the campaign. He then singled out Senator Clinton for special praise, noting the historic nature of her candidacy while ignoring the historic nature of his own. He praised her for her spirit, her courage, her determination. He noted her special role, in the past and in the future, at accompishing key elements of his own platform. He mentioned the total number of people who voted in the primary season, but did not mention his own total. He spoke of the need for all to come together to effect the change that he and Senator Clinton have campaigned to bring about. He gave an uplifting speech about hope, about coming together, about moving the nation back to its once-gloried status among its own people and among the people of the world.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. And Senator Clinton abandoned a great opportunity to say, "It is a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done."

The difference speaks volumes about each of them and about their commitment to their nation, and to their own personal sense of ambition. And Senator Clinton proved herself to be no Sydney Carton.