Clinton staffers, like communications chief Howard Wolfson, look downright silly with denials of any talk in the campaign about dropping out of the race. It's over for Hillary. Everybody knows it. Big Mo kissed her good-bye last night. Clinton has every right to stick it out to the bitter end in Denver this August. Though the campaign is short on cash, the Clintons are worth more than $100M and can easily afford to mount aggressive pushes in the final round of small market states. They can bankroll needed outreach to the super delegates. It’s their money. They can do what they want with it. Clinton has just written another check for $6.4M for her campaign. That’s on top of the $5M that she already had loaned it.
The basic question: Why bother? Phil Singer, a campaign spokesperson, today conceded that Clinton can’t win the nomination even if the Michigan and Florida tallies are recorded. Clinton had her best shot at Obama yesterday. She took it, but fell short. Clinton was hammered in North Carolina and won a squeaker in Indiana. The delegate gap widened. With his win in N.C., the Illinois Senator proved he is a “closer.” And as the front page New York Post put it: Clinton is “toast.”
Former Senator George McGovern, an ardent Clinton supporter, is now backing Obama after yesterday's contests. The former Democratic presidential nominee is urging Clinton to drop out. Other supporters will follow. Hillary will suffer more political damage over the next few weeks as others abandon her? It will be a sad spectacle. Clinton would be foolish to injure her standing in the party by stubbornly sticking to her lost cause. Albany awaits.
"Fighting Hillary" went down for the count in N.C. There is nothing wrong with that. The Democrats don’t need another few months of political bickering between their two contenders.
They certainly don’t need wisecracks like the one an unnamed Clinton operative told the Washington Post: “She cannot be nominated and he can't get elected.”
That is sore-loser stuff. This blogger likes Obama’s chances against John McCain.
