Opinion polls suggest one in four Clinton Democrats feel similarly aggrieved. A Rasmussen July 31 poll found 30 per cent of conservative Democrats intended to vote for McCain, and a CNN poll in June found 22 per cent of Clinton supporters intended abstaining, while 17 per cent would vote for McCain.

She knows so much about the issues so many of us care about, like families and children and education and the future. She can speak on any issue … the history of it, the future of it, why it matters. When [Obama] first arrived on the scene I was open to him, but then he started talking and everything he said was just corny. I can't imagine pulling the lever for that guy. No way. - Jessi Cleaver

They are at pains to say it's not sour grapes; it's about experience. Marnie Delano says: "Hillary's qualified and he is not. He has no track record. He has not written any bills, no laws, he has no foreign policy experience."

Usher says that unlike most other candidates - including Obama - Clinton spent years shaping and creating policy, and campaigning for women and children.

When the Democratic race was still alive, Clinton sought to emphasise her experience by asking voters who they wanted answering the White House crisis phone at 3am. Russia's invasion of Georgia was a "3am moment", says Michael Borio, a Clinton volunteer from Queens. McCain condemned the Russian response and declared international solidarity with Georgia. "What did Obama do? He basically said they should both refrain from further conflict … like they're equal sides!"

Clinton, these believers argue, was undone by the media.

Sexism trumps racism. There's no question about it so far as the media is concerned. I thought Obama was fine. I liked Hillary very much, but every time the news came on they hammered her … The media is dominated by men and they couldn't stand the idea of a woman president.

Andrew M. Delano, life-long Democrat and Franklin D. Roosevelt's distant cousin.

For media bias, they cite the TV commentator who said Clinton was elected to the Senate only because her husband messed around, or another's remark that whenever Clinton appeared on television he involuntarily crossed his legs. And lots more. Clinton was compared to Glenn Close's bunny-boiling character in Fatal Attraction . Her laugh was compared to a witch's cackle.

Meanwhile, coverage of Obama resembled a love affair.

It's 2008 and it should be OK for a person of colour to choose not to vote for a black candidate … trust me there is a lot that the Obama campaign and its volunteers need to be ashamed of, substantive reasons as to why I found myself unable to reconcile voting for Senator Obama. Carla Usher, Clinton campaign volunteer.

The former Bill Clinton adviser Dick Morris says Hillary would have been saddled with unprecedented political baggage had she been nominated. She generates admiration and dislike in almost equal measure. To Clintonites, the party itself was intent on stopping her.

Her campaigners in the acrimonious Pennsylvania primary were abused as racists, says Jay Kallio, 53, a civil rights activist since his teens. "That's where Hillary's people come from - the civil rights movement," Kallio bristles. "And they call us racist." It was there, in Philadelphia, that Usher was told she should be ashamed of herself, a black woman, for supporting Clinton.

Kallio says: "I am a party stalwart they turn to to get things done in the community. At this point I feel I am fighting for the Democratic Party." He's also preparing to return to Pennsylvania - to campaign for John McCain.

Ian Munro is the Herald 's New York correspondent.