Talking of carrying the fight beyond the first ballot at the convention ignores the urgent desire of so many parties in this situation to get a clear nominee before the convention even starts. And based on the recent superdelegate moves, that's very likely--ABC's count even puts Obama ahead in superdelegates already--though others do not.

In fact it's actually to Hillary's benefit that the issue be solved soon. It will be obvious to all that the longer the nomination contest drags on now, the more she is to blame. Not helpful to her political options down the road.

Her latest remark, quoting with approval the AP article "that found how Senator Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again and how whites in both states (NC and IN) who had not completed college were supporting me" is one I suspect she now wishes she had not made. It can easily hold its own with "bitter" as unfortunate statements by the candidates.

And it's one she will have to live down--if she ever expects to go beyond NY Senator.

In fact, the more she raises that argument--in KY or WV, say--the more she will have to eat her own words--and soon. She's smart enough to know her only chance is that Obama somehow self-destructs--and that's not likely.



Though there was a contest recently-- MSNBC First Read, I think--as to how Obama could still lose the nomination.

A few suggestions:

1) It's discovered that Obama is only 34.

2) Footage of 8-year-old Obama is discovered--making bombs in Williams Ayers' workshop.

3) Hillary cries 2 tears.

4) Hillary appeals to the Supreme Court, which, based on a 2000 decision, decides that the winner is the candidate who gets the fewer votes.




At any rate, when she concedes, the proof of the pudding will be how hard she works to elect Obama. So she will be going back to some of the same states and, in essence, saying she was completely wrong to run him down. If she doesn't, it will be the end of her political career--and she should have thought about that before engaging in her classic scorched earth tactics.

If anything, Bill is even more guilty--but it won't make any difference to him-- he'll only ever be an "elder statesman" . But he also should be sent to represent Obama before blue-collar audiences.


At any rate, the sooner she concedes now, the fewer words she'll have to eat---before the same audiences.

However, I'd be very surprised if she concedes on Tim Russert's program. One of the most memorable exchanges in the debates, remember, was Tim's questioning of her on the jobs issue. He specifically pointed out that in her run for Senate in 2000 she had promised that NY State would gain jobs. But instead it lost them--about 50,000 or so, as I recall. Her excuse was she assumed Gore would win. Not her finest moment--and courtesy of Tim Russert.   I bet she remembers that--and is not about to give him the scoop her bowing-out announcement would be.

But perhaps right after winning WV--leaving on an up-note. That would be a plausible scenario. So that's my guess.

It's unlikely now she'll even wait til the end of the month.