To all of the Hillary Clinton supporters who are devastated by the reality that your candidate is not going to become president- I feel your pain.

To all of the Hillary supporters who say they will vote for John McCain rather than Barack Obama- You are insane.

I understand that in the heat of battle, there is a tendecy to demonize your competition. Hillary supporters can’t stand Obama and Obama supporters despise Hillary. But, now that the race is over (yes, Hillary… it is over), it is time for Hillary supporters to ditch the venom and embrace Obama.

With all of the acrimony in the campaign, everyone seems to forget that Hillary and Obama agree upon virtually every major policy, while the two of them stand in stark contrast to McCain:

WAR IN IRAQ: Both Hillary and Obama have called for a rapid withdrawal of American forces. McCain, on the other hand, not only believes in staying, he has made it abundantly clear that he would escalate hostilities.

ABORTION: Both Hillary and Obama are strong supporters of a woman’s right to choose. McCain has made overturning Roe v. Wade one of the key items on his political agenda.

JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS: This may be the most critical issue of all, because of the long-term ramifications. McCain will appoint Supreme Court Justices in the John Alito and John Roberts mold. They will overturn Roe v. Wade. They will sacrifice civil liberties in the name of “security.” And they will side with money and power over people and justice. The damage will go deeper than this. McCain will stock the Circuit Courts and District Courts with deeply conservative judges. Hillary and Obama would be seating justices more in the Ruth Bader Ginsburg mold.

EDUCATION: McCain has been silent on the issue of education. His enormous military budget and his pledge not to raise taxes leaves little room for funding education. Hillary and Obama have both made education a priority in their campaigns.

RACE RELATIONS, GENDER ISSUES AND TOLERANCE: McCain voted against making Martin Luther King’s birthday a national holiday. McCain called his wife a c**t. Obama and Hillary represent tolerance and inclusion.

CHILDREN: The Children’s Defense Fund gave McCain the lowest rating of anyone in the Senate. His 10% rating is in stark comparison to both Hillary (70%) and Obama (60%).

TORTURE: Even though he was a victim of torture, McCain gleefully supported George Bush’s veto of the anti-torture bill. Obama and Hillary have both come out strongly against waterboarding and other forms of torture used by the US military and intelligence agencies.

ENVIRONMENT: Both Hillary (73%) and Obama (67%) received high grades on their environmental voting records by the League of Conservation Voters. McCain’s score? 0%.

All of the above underscores the remarkable similarities (in terms of political stances) between Hillary and Obama and the stunning difference between both Democratic candidates and McCain. It just doesn’t make any sense for a Hillary supporter to choose McCain over Obama.

Hillary can play a critical role in bringing her supporters under the Obama umbrella. If she has any decency, any real belief in her political positions, then she will fight like hell for Obama… and the time to start fighting is NOW.