At long last, Clinton took her hard-earned delegates aside, thanked them, and for the first time, encouraged them to vote for and work to elect Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., who will presumably accept his official nomination tonight.

Clinton releasing her delegates obviously was a good move — one that will unify the party while still solidifying Clinton’s stature as a future presidential hopeful — but waiting until the last moment has caused some problems. For one thing, not all of Clinton’s newly released delegates are planning on voting for Obama; they’re still voting for Clinton.

The State News reported this week that she still had a responsibility to represent her delegation, and that means voting for Clinton at the convention.

This is nothing short of childish. Disunity this late in the game does nothing more than weaken the Democratic Party. Since Clinton officially supported Obama, the Democrats have had three months to get behind their candidate. And Clinton’s supporters are not helping anyone by being defiant.

Obama’s acceptance of the nomination tonight will be nothing more than a formality. The primary elections were over months ago, as were Clinton’s hopes for being elected president in 2008. In other words, as the primaries ended, so did Clinton’s delegates’ responsibilities to vote for her.

In her highly-publicized speech Tuesday night, Clinton challenged her own delegates, asking if they were in the race for her or for the ideals that she stood for. MSU students who are still avid Clinton supporters would do well to listen to her words and channel their energies toward electing Obama.

For instance, the creation of an American Opportunity Tax Credit to aid students in their first year of college — something all college students should be interested in — is something both Clinton and Obama avidly support.

If anything, Clinton’s delegates are doing her, as well as the entire Democratic Party, a disservice. Undecided voters will not be persuaded by a fragmented and split party. Besides, if Clinton officially supports Obama and his positions, shouldn’t her delegates, by simple employment of the transitive property, support Obama?

Which begs the question: Clinton officially endorsed Obama way back in June, so why wait until the convention to release her delegates? She could have released them at any time, and the sooner she released them, the better off the Democratic Party may have been.

Clinton’s insistence on staying in the race and refusal to liberate her delegates only hurts her chances in the future. If the Democrats lose the presidency in November, Clinton could be seen as being divisive. Instead of showing the party that she can be a team player, Clinton has only brought more attention to her attempts to stay in the limelight for as long as possible.

Obama’s acceptance of the nomination tonight has the potential to be a historic moment in our country’s history. It would be a shame if that moment was tarnished by the stubbornness of Clinton’s supporters.