Hillary's a great person. I hope she finishes her run gracefully...

[sfam]

Wisconsin shows that Hillary is not going to win this by throwing everything including the kitchen sink at Obama. Perhaps he makes a mistake in the debates, or some other gaff, but outside of this, its pretty clear to everyone that Hillary's run is quickly coming to a end.

I hope she goes out in style - that she doesn't spend her last two weeks dragging us all through the mud. If so, I think she'll be remembered poorly. Her critique that women are still more heavily criticized than men will lose some heft, as most can look back and point to her tactics more than her gender for why she lost.

And we can all question whether or not it made sense in retrospect to bet the farm on Super Tuesday - clearly this bet didn't pay off. But truly, name me a candidate that regularly fills 20,000 seat arenas - there is no way she could have expected this sort of opposition. Whether she should have pivoted better once the dynamics were clear is another question.

But again, even though I don't support her, I think Hillary is a terrific person, someone who has truly knocked down some serious barriers, and truly deserves our respect and admiration. She's made it an almost certainty that we will be seeing a woman president sometime in our near-future.

I just hope she decides to go out in style.

[BlackVelvet04]

1. Condescending much?

[sfam]

17. I didn't think so, but clearly you disagree...

If its because I think the race is clearly over, this is different from being condescending. I might be wrong, but I think that's different.

[Yurovsky]

25. That's a bit harsh, don't you think?

There was nothing condescending in the tone of that post. Here are some facts you may want to consider ...

From Realclearpoltics.com:

Total Delegates OBAMA - 1323 CLINTON -1252
Pledged Delegates OBAMA - 1155 CLINTON - 1013
Popular Vote OBAMA - 9,739,878 CLINTON - 8,988,617
Popular Vote (w/FL) OBAMA - 10,316,092 CLINTON - 9,859,603

It's not condescension, it's FACT. Obama is beating Hillary. There very few states left, and the margins that HRC is up in ANY of those states is far less than the % she would need to retake the lead in pledged delegates, not to mention that each passing day sees the polling numbers trend in Obama's favor in Texas & Ohio. If she loses either, I cannot fathom how she would win mathematically, unless Obama suddenly drops out of the race. Even if she wins both plus PA, I can't see her winning by enough to really cut into Obama's delegate lead. And trust me, the Superdelegates aren't going to thwart the will of the people.

You can envision a scenario in which HRC comes from behind, but the reality is that each passing day makes that possibility more and more remote. Step back and look at the data, and try not to internalize what is happening to HRC's campaign. You may have a lot invested intellectually, emotionally, or even financially, but her losing has nothing to do with you personally. If I let it get to me every time my candidate lost an election, I'd be in a mental hospital by now (I'm a 2-time Dennis Kucinich for President supporter, for crying out loud).

[sendero]

27. Muching much?

The much thing is so passe and cowardly. If you have something to say, why not say it?

[libertee]

2. She will ..when she takes the oath of office

[sfam]

4. You're looking at needing a hail mary pass at this point...

I just don't see Hail Mary's as something we find in going insanely negative. But who knows, perhaps I'm clueless..

[faithfulcitizen]

3. We can only "hope" she will be graceful.

[scheming daemons]

5. Not a chance....

Do you think the likes of James Carville, Terry McAuliffe, Mark Penn, Howard Wolfson, and especially Bill Clinton will LET her end this gracefully?

Nothing about that "gang of five" exudes grace and class.


Hillary was done in by the men she surrounded her with. She has the worst group of advisors one can imagine.


If she would've divorced Bill a couple years ago, she'd be ahead right now.

If she would've jettisoned Mark Penn a month ago, she'd be ahead right now.

If she would refuse the advice given to her by the likes of Carville, McAuliffe, and Wolfson... she'd be ahead right now.


Her inability to surround herself with capable people.... a KEY negative trait for a person running for President.... is why she SHOULD be working on her exit strategy right now.

But those five dimwits... and yes, I include Bill - who I used to respect immensely, but who sabotaged her campaign at every turn ... won't let her exit.

[sfam]

7. This is her decision...not theirs...

But who knows - we'll see over the next two weeks how it is. And again, I have no problem her hitting him hard on real issues. Lets hope she keeps out of the muck raking though.

[rodeodance]

6. YAWN--

[HeraldSquare212]

8. That's what's left to her,and I think she'll take it.

She'll leave before TX and OH. That will ensure the gratitude of the rest of the party, including her colleagues in the Senate.

[BuyingThyme]

9. She has to explain her Iraq War vote.

Else there's no grace.

[sfam]

12. She's not gonna change her explanation...this doesn't mean that she...

can't just stick to the issues and her strengths as the race winds down.

Again, I'm guessing we'll know in the next 3 days or so what she decides.

[elixir]

14. and don't forget Kerry's apology.

[elixir]

10. Call me an optimist but I still think there's some more time for HRC.

[sfam]

13. MSNBC just said counting Obama's super delegates, he needs less than 50% of...

the remaining pledged delegates to win the nomination. While its certainly mathematically possible, it will take an Obama collapse.

[ORDem]

18. OK, you're an optimist. You're the optimist poster child in fact.

Barring finding out that McCain fathered a child with Michelle Obama, HRC is not going to recover at this point. It's all done but the cryin'. Watch her leads in TX and OH evaporate.

17 (edited up from 13) points up for Obama! In WI!!

If you can't see the handwriting on the wall, ... well, I feel for you, but HRC is not going to disappear. We need her in the Senate, a new Senate with 60+ Democrats in charge.

:dem:

[Moh96]

24. Amen to that

[tularetom]

11. I would bet anything that when and if she leaves this campaign

without the nomination, it will not be done with grace and dignity. Neither on her part nor especially on the part of Bill clinton who has seemed to think this whole process has been a referendum on him and his activities as president.

She has not been well served by those whom she has brought in to assist her in this effort. That may not be completely her fault (how can she tell Bill to STFU when she knows he won't do it) but it does reflect on her ability to select a staff. She deserved better, but I think she has been sold a bill of goods about her inevitability that is obviously going to be difficult for her to let go of. She's just flailing now, hoping to land a body blow and it just isn't working.

[sfam]

16. Well again...she selected her crew...but its still HER campaign...

She deserved what she got from her campaign staff in the sense that she put it together. Bill Clinton is another story - who knows what she could have done there. But yeah, you might very well be right...

[nenagh]

22. The Mars, Venus problem

During Hillary speeches, I will suddenly hear phrases that have a different phraseology and tonality which seems wrong coming from Hillary's mouth... and think that part was written by a man.

This results in a dissonance, kind of a loss of authenticity which I think has served her badly...she then appears to be a mouth piece for others, which is very unfortunate.

Maybe I'm just crazy, but I hear it and it seems so simple to fix and so detrimental to Hillary's efforts.

[ShortnFiery]

15. I concur with the people HRC has thrown under the bus, she's arrogant, petty and self-righteous.

I hope that I'm wrong, but I fear that The Clintonian DLC is going to TRY to take the entire party down with them. I'm truly ashamed, in retrospect, that I voted for her husband TWICE. :(

[sfam]

19. She may go negative, but I think its a huge stretch to think that...

she will try to take the party down with them. If Hillary decides she's lost, she will NOT try to hand the contest to the Republicans - I just don't see that. At all.

[Hill_YesWeWill]

20. I completely agree! she should take the VP spot and run in 8 years nt

[sfam]

21. I'm not alone - check this Huffington Post article by Sanford Horwitt

It says pretty much the same thing, along with the thought that Hillary should go magnanimous in the hopes of saving herself for another day.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sanford-d-horwitt/friendly-advice-for-hilla_b_87488.html

[Kahuna]

23. Too late. She's intent on damaging Obama for the general election. nt

[marshall]

26. Plan B--2012 after a disastrous McCain presidency

The same thing occurs to me. I think it's the same reason the Clintons didn't help Kerry four years ago--Hillary can run again against a Republican incumbent but eight years of Obama is too long for her.

[Perry Logan]

28. She has a lot of sick puppies badmouthing her--some within this very thread.