I should have learned my lesson with Bill Bradley and Howard Dean, but here I am. I allowed myself to believe that perhaps an outsider could win — that we really could turn a page in American politics, and perhaps a candidate with real vision and inspiration could win.

But alas, that isn’t the case. Hillary Clinton has won New Hampshire, and the narrative will now be a “Hillary Wave.” The party will fall back in line behind her, and Hillary will steamroll her way through the primaries to the nomination. And then, in November, the Republicans will crush her.

How can the party be so stupid? Over half this country hates Hillary Clinton. Large numbers of Democrats distrust and despise her. I do not believe that she can win a general election.

Despite her recent conversion to progressive causes for the primaries, she has been a cynical centrist throughout her tenure as a Senator. She will not give us universal health care, she will not end the Iraq War, she will not end torture, and she will carry on the policies of the Bush administration as their true heir. Living in Washington, I am exposed on a daily basis to Washington conventional wisdom, particularly on foreign policy. Hillary is a creature of Washington. She is not able, or willing, to deliver change. And like Dick Cheney, she is petty, paranoid and entitled.

I guess it’s time for me to turn out the lights on my interest in this race. By the time it rolls around to D.C., any vote for any candidate but Hillary Clinton will be symbolic. Once again, the establishment has won the race — and just like with John Kerry in 2004, it’s regular Americans who will suffer. I thought people had woken up to this fact, but I guess I’m wrong. The “electable” candidate of the establishment is anything but.

Barack Obama could have been the next Kennedy. He could have change things and inspired the country. Now Hillary cynically appropriates the language of his campaign, just as John Kerry did to Howard Dean. And just as in 2004, Hillary will be beaten by the Republicans.

I know, I know — “the race isn’t over.” But all it took was one win to restore Hillary’s sense of inevitability. The race is already lost.