Dear West Virginians...

Through a funny twist of fate, you've been given an opportunity to play a historic role in the Democratic primary -- one it looks like you're probably going to piss away. Were you to defy all forecasts and break in favor of Barack Obama tonight, the race would be over; Hillary Clinton would have no choice but to drop out tomorrow.

Of course, that would require West Virginians to do something many of you seem loath to do: vote for a black guy, one whom an awful lot of you suspect to be a secret Muslim. But you know what? By not going for Obama, you're not going to prevent him from getting the nomination; you're just going to drag it out a couple more weeks. This is not Pennsylvania all over again; you can't put the whole contest back in play, just the timing. You can, and probably will, however, reinforce the belief that your state is a backwards, xenophobic place.

This sounds like an ultimatum: Vote for Obama or the rest of us will think you're racists. So don't think of it that way, but like this: You can't accomplish anything by voting for Clinton, but you can accomplish something by voting for the Democratic Party: You can contribute materially to its chances of victory in November by giving its candidate extra weeks to rest and campaign, and even more so by putting paid to the pernicious notion that lower-income whites won't vote for a black person with a middle-eastern name.

Of course, to do that, you have to actually be willing to vote for a black person with a middle-eastern name. But can't you bring yourself to do that when the alternative is throwing your vote away?