One of the weirder themes of this Democratic primary season was the loyalists' cry that if their candidate lost, they'd take revenge by voting for the very guy who opposes most of what their idol stands for.

This scorched-earth approach was evident in both camps. Hillary Clinton supporters swore they'd vote for John McCain if their gal didn't win, and Barack Obama fans vowed to do likewise if their guy lost.

Some of it could be chalked up to the heat of passion during a close, grueling race. But some of it was, excuse the expression, just plain bitterness.

You could almost hear these folks fuming under their breath -- "If I can't get (insert name) in charge of health care, the war and the Supreme Court, then dammit, I'm going for the fellow who'll set us back another 100 years! That'll show 'em!"

Never mind that Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama are so close on the issues that they had to find other things to argue about, while Mr. McCain thinks the free market is doing a fine job on health insurance, would be fine with 100 years of U.S. involvement in Iraq and promises to appoint justices that right-wing Christians will love.

This family feud among the Democrats has never been about issues. It's been about a lot of other things, even if the distinctions weren't always fair or accurate:

• History (the first woman presidential nominee vs. the first African American one)

• Symbolic redress of centuries of grievances (sexism vs. racism)

• Age and experience (seasoned pro who's earned it vs. relative newcomer promising to shake things up)

• Style (war horse vs. race horse)

• Class (blue and pink collar vs. college-educated)

• Tone (dogged determination vs. rhetorical uplift)

• Associations (Washington insiders and a loose-cannon, ex-president husband vs. the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Tony Rezko);

• Defying expectations (staying in it to the last vote despite pressure to withdraw vs. coming from nowhere to surpass the front-runner).

Whatever it was about, it's over now. Barack Obama has crossed the delegate threshold and staked his claim to his party's nomination, and Mrs. Clinton has acknowledged as much.

It has to have been a heartbreaker for her to have come so close -- and it's no mystery why she wasn't ready to concede on Tuesday night. She was addressing an auditorium full of committed, hard-working supporters shouting out their love. Who -- besides the pundits and Hillary haters (synonymous in many cases) -- could blame her for wanting to bask in her barrier-busting candidacy one last time before giving up the fight?

Mr. Obama had already been taking aim at Mr. McCain for several weeks, scorning his claim to the title "maverick" and pounding on his 95 percent pro-Bush voting record over the last year. Another day or two without a Clinton concession wouldn't make any difference.

Regardless of who winds up as Mr. Obama's running mate, he and Mrs. Clinton have got to join forces now. She must do everything in her power to bring her followers over to him, and he has to close the deal by speaking directly to the issues that matter to them. A little less "hope" rhetoric and a lot more concrete policy in his speeches would go a long way.

As for Hillary supporters still in the grip of anger, sadness or disillusion, they're entitled to a period of mourning. But then they need to heed Cher's immortal cry to Nicholas Cage in "Moonstruck," when she slapped him in the face and hollered: "Snap out of it!"

There's way too much at stake in November to let hurt feelings or side issues cloud the important stuff. And if they don't believe it, they should review the last eight years, brought to us by voters who cared more about whether Al Gore and John Kerry seemed "stiff" than they did about competence, ideology or intellectual honesty.

Those ill-fated elections brought us a litany of outrages that the next president will have to start repairing. Here's a short list, in case anyone has forgotten.

The botched, unnecessary war in Iraq. Torture memos and Abu Ghraib. Warrantless wiretaps. Extraordinary rendition. Ruination of American prestige abroad. Exploiting fear for political gain. The bungled response to Hurricane Katrina. The war on science. Politicizing the Justice Department. Top officials leaking classified information to punish political enemies. Health-care disparities run rampant. Indifference to the plight of the cities, and mass transit, and the environment. The unfunded strictures of No Child Left Behind. Abstinence-only sex non-education. A Supreme Court that thinks it's just fine for Goodyear to have paid Lilly Leadbetter substantially less than her male counterparts for 20 years.

It's an infamous record, and now it's up to Barack Obama to reverse course. The mere thought of Republicans continuing down the same path for another four years should be enough to shake the most disheartened Hillary supporter into action. And in all likelihood, the great majority will come around.

They may believe she was discounted, disrespected and done in by vicious misogyny -- and they may be right. They still need to get over it.