Party unity? What party unity?

Just got done watching Sens. Obama and Clinton interviews on CNN the morning after Clinton wins in Ohio and Texas blunt Obama's momentum. The difference in tone of the two interviews speaks volumes about the two campaigns.
Obama gave props to Clinton several times during the interview, saying she ran a good race, congratulating her on her wins, but, naturally, spun the results to put himself in the best light. The delegate count remained pretty much the same, he pointed out, and he had fought back from a pretty steep hole to make the races a lot closer than they were several weeks ago.
Obviously happy with the results Clinton portrayed her night as the first step towards overtaking Obama. But what should be unsettling for Democrats is that Clinton obviously believes that she has to go negative to overtake Obama.
She not only touted herself as being the superior candidate - what else would she say? - but at least twice touted Republican nominee John McCain as being a superior candidate to Obama. Not exactly putting party above self there.
So what does Clinton do if Obama should go on to win the nomination? Does she send signals to her supporters that they should desert the party and support McCain? You can be assured that McCain's camp will use Clinton's own words against Obama.
Even those who feel Obama does not have the credentials Clinton does have to admit that his message has attracted a slew of new voters to the party. And those not-yet-cynical voters may not take kindly to Clinton's tactics and decide sit the November election out if she becomes the nominee. That would not only hurt Democrats this year, but blunt the inroads Obama was able to make in building a new, younger Democratic base.
Yesterday I wrote that Democrats should not fear a prolonged primary with a caveat - as long as it remained civil. Clinton signaled this morning that she's out to win at all costs. And that cost may be steep for Democrats who hunger to put one of their own in the White House