Well, that’s it. It’s over. America voted, and it was clear that she was not as popular as her competitors. So, she went home.

You know I’m talking about “American Idol’s” Syesha, right? Hillary Clinton is still hanging on. All the odds are against her now, and with the endorsement of John Edwards and his delegates going to Barack Obama, I can’t see how she can continue. But whatever it is that’s driving her, that’s pushing her, that’s making her feel like she’s supposed to be there when numbers and logic and pundits are telling her she shouldn’t be, we all should have.

I don’t know if it’s her supporters, Bill, or the pantsuits. I can’t figure it out. Well, maybe I can, sort of.

I come from a small town, Tuskegee, Alabama, where the majority of the community was made up of well-educated, ambitious black people. The children of these hard working Negroes were taught by example to work hard and dream big. There was nothing we thought we couldn’t achieve.

I don’t know that much about Hillary or how she was raised, but I know a fighter when I see one. You don’t fight this hard unless you’re accustomed to winning. But there are different kinds of winners — those who win because they’re really the best and those who win because of who they are and who they know. Some people think they should win because they’ve paid their dues, played by the rules and attained success. Some people think they are entitled to that success — that in spite of the rules, in spite of the laws, in spite of the people, they deserve to have what they want, and they’re willing to fight for it any cost. This feeling of entitlement will give you the confidence, the spirit, the power to stay in a race when everyone says you should quit, when everyone says you can’t win, when everyone tells you it’s over.

When Hillary finally has to bow out, I hope that Barack will be able to go into this thing with the same kind of fight. As Tavis pointed out Tuesday, when Obama becomes the nominee, the heat will be turned up like never before. There will be days he will wonder whether he can or should go on. He’s got to fight with everything he has, and when he’s got nothing else to give, he’s still got find a way to keep swinging.

There’s something in each of us who aspires to be successful that continues to drive us when our tank is low. I was once a member of the Commodores, but quit the group before Lionel and the guys blew up. I felt so stupid when I saw how well they were doing that I wasn’t going to stop until I’d achieved something that would make me stop regretting my decision to quit.
What is it that made you keep going in spite of the odds? If you have a story of being down and out, but you somehow found the strength to continue, share that story. Maybe it will inspire someone in else in their darkest hour, in the fight of their life, to press forward.