The early states pledge

Here is the pledge that the candidates--including both Hillary and Obama--signed stating that they would not "campaign or participate" in states other than Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina that held primaries or caucuses before February 5th.

Last week I weighed in on the issue of Michigan's delegates and Hillary's assertion that it was Obama's "choice" to remove his name from the ballot. Given the pledge that they both signed, it seems to me that a reasonable observer would think that taking one's name off the ballot was more consistent with "not participating" than leaving one's name on.