Why Barack Obama fears a sudden end to Hillary Clinton's campaign

"The Democratic race now moves to West Virginia," Jay Leno noted during his monologue Thursday night on "The Tonight Show." "Today, Hillary Clinton claimed she always wanted to be a coal miner. But those dreams were dashed when she was forced to attend Wellesley and Yale."

The political focus now does, indeed, shift to the Mountaineer State for its primary there next Tuesday. And then Kentucky and Oregon and Puerto Rico down to the very end in Montana on June 3 when springtime there is just weeks away.

The Times' not-so-old political pro, Mark Z. Barabak, had an interesting conversation with another not-so-old political pro, Tad Devine, a Democratic strategist who cut his presidential political teeth in the 1980 Jimmy Carter campaign. Later he worked in the unsuccessful presidential efforts of Al Gore and John Kerry. Devine is not involved with any candidate this time around.

But the way he sees the inevitable delegate math in favor of Barack Obama and the current Democratic race ending is, counterintuitively, the worst thing that could happen to the Illinois senator in....

this marathon and often bitter struggle between the two Democratic survivors is what so many party members are already unthinkingly clamoring for: Clinton to drop out right now. ASAP.

Why?

Because with her name still on the ballots, she'd be very likely to go on and win in West Virginia anyway, even as a dropout. And maybe Kentucky too, given the demographics in both places. And possibly Puerto Rico as well.

How would that look if at the end of the Democratic race the winning candidate with clearly the most delegates and popular votes went down to defeat against a candidate who isn't even in the contest anymore? Ouch! That would tend to overshadow his expected wins in Oregon and Montana.

In fact, although little noticed because the Republican race had long been over, Sen. John McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee, won his Pennsylvania primary with 73% of the vote. To be sure, thousands of Republicans crossed over to vote in the more interesting Democratic contest for whatever reason.

But put another way, the surefire Republican nominee lost about 27% of his own party's vote to a candidate who had long since dropped out (ex-Gov. Mike Huckabee) and a Republican rebel who never really had any chance of winning (Rep. Ron Paul).

"If [Obama] lost to a candidate who's withdrawn, that would hurt him a lot," says Devine. "And there's a good chance that could happen."

Better, he figures, for the former first lady to remain in the race a couple more weeks at least, as long as she recalibrates her rhetorical cannons at McCain and President Bush, instead of her party's new presumptive presidential candidate.

That would, of course, require at least a tacit admission of defeat by Clinton. Let's all hold our breath for that to happen.

Obama seems to recognize this. At a fundraiser in Washington's Union Station last night with cheese and crackers and fruits for a minimum $1,000, he told supporters, "The nomination doesn't take place in August -- it takes place until August."

-- Andrew Malcolm

Photo Credit: AP

Comments

[Jackie]

Hillary should not quit just because Obama supporters say so. If they are so sure of him; why are they afraid of her? I am also one of the million Hillary supporters that will never vote for Obama because he is not Presidential quality or maybe he is. He is a lying, underhanded candidate, and I wouldn't elect him if he was the last man standing.
Obama Lies - Updated to reflect new dishonesties 04/02/2008
Posted by adminMarch 31, 2008OBAMA LAUNDRY LIST OF LIES ( 67 lies and counting
as of April 02, 2008)
1.) Selma Got Me Born - LIAR, your parents felt safe enough to have you in 1961
- Selma had no effect on your birth, as Selma was in 1965.
2.) Father Was A Goat Herder - LIAR, he was a privileged, well educated youth,
who went on to work with the Kenyan Government.
3.) Father Was A Proud Freedom Fighter - LIAR, he was part of one of the most
corrupt and violent governments Kenya has ever had
4.) My Family Has Strong Ties To African Freedom - LIAR, your cousin Raila
Odinga has created mass violence in attempting to overturn a legitimate election
in 2007, in Kenya. It is the first widespread violence in decades.
5.) My Grandmother Has Always Been A Christian - LIAR, she does her daily Salat
prayers at 5am according to her own interviews. Not to mention, Christianity
wouldn’t allow her to have been one of 14 wives to 1 man.
6.) My Name is African Swahili - LIAR, your name is Arabic and ‘Baraka’ (from
which Barack came) means ‘blessed’ in that language. Hussein is also Arabic and
so is Obama.
7.) I Never Practiced Islam - LIAR, you practiced it daily at school, where you
were registered as a Muslim and kept that faith for 31 years,until your wife
made you change, so you could run for office.
8.) My School In Indonesia Was Christian - LIAR, you were registered as Muslim
there and got in trouble in Koranic Studies for making faces (check your own
book).
9.) I Was Fluent In Indonesian - LIAR, not one teacher says you could speak the
language.
10.) Because I Lived In Indonesia, I Have More Foreign Experience - LIAR, you
were there from the ages of 6 to 10, and couldn’t even speak the language. What
did you learn, how to study the Koran and watch cartoons.
11.) I Am Stronger On Foreign Affairs - LIAR, except for Africa (surprise) and
the Middle East (bigger surprise), you have never been anywhere else on the
planet and thus have NO experience with our closest allies.
12.) I Blame My Early Drug Use On Ethnic Confusion - LIAR, you were quite
content in high school to be Barry Obama, no mention of Kenya and no mention of
struggle to identify - your classmates said you were just fine.
13.)An Ebony Article Moved Me To Run For Office - LIAR, Ebony has yet to find
the article you mention in your book. It doesn’t, and never did, exist.
14.) A Life Magazine Article Changed My Outlook On Life - LIAR, Life has yet to
find the article you mention in your book. It doesn’t, and never did, exist.
15.) I Won’t Run On A National Ticket In ‘08 - LIAR, here you are, despite
saying, live on TV, that you would not have enough experience by then, and you
are all about having experience first.
16.) Present Votes Are Common In Illinois - LIAR, they are common for YOU, but
not many others have 130 NO VOTES.
17.) Oops, I Misvoted - LIAR, only when caught by church groups and democrats,
did you beg to change your misvote.
18.) I Was A Professor Of Law - LIAR, you were a senior lecturer ON LEAVE.
19.) I Was A Constitutional Lawyer - LIAR, you were a senior lecturer ON LEAVE.
20.) Without Me, There Would Be No Ethics Bill - LIAR, you didn’t write
it,introduce it, change it, or create it.
21.) The Ethics Bill Was Hard To Pass - LIAR, it took just 14 days from start to
finish.
22.) I Wrote A Tough Nuclear Bill - LIAR, your bill was rejected by your own
party for its pandering and lack of all regulation - mainly because of your
Nuclear Donor, Exelon, from which David Axelrod came.
23.) I Have Released My State Records - LIAR, as of March, 2008, state bills you
sponsored or voted for have yet to be released, exposing all the special
interests pork hidden within.
24.) I Took On The Asbestos Altgeld Gardens Mess - LIAR, you were part of a
large group of people who remedied Altgeld Gardens. You failed to mention anyone
else but yourself, in your books.
25.) My Economics Bill Will Help America - LIAR, your 111 economic policies were
just combined into a proposal which lost 99-0, and even YOU voted against your
own bill.
26.) I Have Been A Bold Leader In Illinois - LIAR, even your own supporters
claim to have not seen BOLD action on your part.
27.) I Passed 26 Of My Own Bills In One Year - LIAR, they were not YOUR bills,
but rather handed to you, after their creation by a fellow Senator, to assist
you in a future bid for higher office.
28.) No One Contacted Canada About NAFTA - LIAR, the Candian Government issued
the names and a memo of the conversation your campaign had with them.
29.) I Am Tough On Terrorism - LIAR, you missed the Iran Resolution vote on
terrorism and your good friend Ali Abunimah supports the destruction of Israel.
30.) I Am Not Acting As President Yet - LIAR, after the NAFTA Memo, a dead
terrorist in the FARC, in Colombia, was found with a letter stating how you and
he were working together on getting FARC recognized officially.
31.) I Didn’t Run Ads In Florida - LIAR, you allowed national ads to run 8-12
times per day for two weeks - and you still lost.
32.) I Won Michigan - LIAR, no you didn’t.
33.) I won Nevada - LIAR, no you did not.
34.) I Want All Votes To Count - LIAR, you said let the delegates decide.
35.) I Want Americans To Decide - LIAR, you prefer caucuses that limit the vote,
confuse the voters, force a public vote, and only operate during small windows
of time.
36.) I passed 900 Bills in the State Senate - LIAR, you passed 26, most of which
you didn’t write yourself.
37.) My Campaign Was Extorted By A Friend - LIAR, that friend is threatening to
sue if you do not stop saying this. Obama has stopped saying this.
38.) I Believe In Fairness, Not Tactics - LIAR, you used tactics to eliminate
Alice Palmer from running against you.
39.) I Don’t Take PAC Money - LIAR, you take loads of it.
40.) I don’t Have Lobbysists - LIAR, you have over 47 lobbyists, and counting.
41.) My Campaign Had Nothing To Do With The 1984 Ad - LIAR, your own campaign
worker made the ad on his Apple in one afternoon.
42.) My Campaign Never Took Over MySpace - LIAR, Tom, who started MySpace issued
a warning about this advertising to MySpace clients.
43.) I Inspire People With My Words - LIAR, you inspire people with other
people’s words.
44.) I Have Passed Bills In The U.S. Senate - LIAR, you have passed A BILL in
the U.S. Senate - for Africa, which shows YOUR priorities.
45.) I Have Always Been Against Iraq - LIAR, you weren’t in office to vote
against it AND you have voted to fund it every single time, unlike Kucinich, who
seems to be out gutting you Obama. You also seem to be stepping back from your
departure date - AGAIN.
46.) I Have Always Supported Universal Health Care - LIAR, your plan leaves us
all to pay the 15,000,000 who don’t have to buy it.
47.) I Only Found Out About My Investment Conflicts Via Mail - LIAR, both
companies you site as having sent you letters about this conflict have no record
of any such letter ever being created or sent.
48.) I Am As Patriotic As Anyone - LIAR, you won’t wear a flag pin and you don’t
put your hand over your heart during the Anthem.
49.) My Wife Didn’t Mean What She Said About Pride In Country - LIAR, your
wife’s words follow lock-step in the vein of Wright and Farrahkan, in relation
to their contempt and hatred of America.
50.) Wal-Mart Is A Company I Wouldn’t Support - LIAR, your wife has received
nearly a quater of a million dollars through Treehouse, which is connected to
Wal-Mart.
51.) Treehouse Is A Small Company - LIAR, the CEO of Treehouse last year, made
more than the CEO of Wal-Mart, according to public records.
52.) University Of Chicago Hospital Pay Is Fair - LIAR, your wife’s pay raise
was nearly 150% her already bloated rate and the hospital is a Non-Profit
Hospital, which made $100,000,000 in the last 3 years. They overcharge blacks VS
whites for services, and overcharge everyone in general by 538%!
53.)I Barely Know Rezko - Only 5 Billed Hours - LIAR, you have known him for 17
years, and decided to do a real estate deal with him during a time when he was
proven to be under investigation. Despite this, you divided your property and
had them take off $300K before the mortgage problems started. Then Rezko’s wife
buys the lot beside it that you can’t afford, saving you $625,000.
54.) My Donations Have Been Checked Thoroughly - LIAR, you only gave back Hsu
($72K) and Rezko (first $66K, then when caught lying $86K, then when caught
lying again $150K and now caught lying YET AGAIN OBAMA, it’s $250k) their money
when publically called on their involvement in your campaigns.
55.) My Church Is Like Any Other Christian Church - LIAR, your church is so
extreme, the pastor who married you, Rev. Wright, just got done blaming the US
for 9/11 and named Louis Farrahkan their person of the year.
56.) I Disagree With My Church All The Time - LIAR, you still have yet to
repudiate Wright, who married you and your wife, and you still donate large sums
of money to assist the church in furthering its message - hatred and revenge.
You donated in 2006 alone, $22,500 to the church that you so terribly disagree
with. That is nearly $500 PER WEEK - that sure is disagreement, Senator Obama.
57.) I Have Clean Connections Despite Rezko - LIAR, you are not only connected
to Exelon and Rezko, you are also connected to Hillary PAC supporter Mr. Hsu,
AND an Iraqi Billionaire of ill repute, Nadhmi Auchi, who ripped off people in
the Food For Oil, Iraqi deal. Seems Mr. Auchi may have helped Obama buy his
million dollar property long before Obama had millions of dollars. Wonder what
favors Mr. Auchi expects, when Obama leaves Iraq free to be taken over by
special interests such as him.
58.) I never heard sermons like Rev. Wright’s, that have been in videos all day,
You Tube - LIAR! 3 days later during your Mea Culpa BS speech you said “Did I
hear controversial statements while I sat in that church? Yes I did.”
59.) The Passport Invasion is a conspiracy to find dirt on me! - LIAR. Your own
Campaign Foreign Policy Advisor is the CEO of the company that looked into your
records. PS - You had them look into yours to hide the fact you looked into
Clinton’s and McCain’s more than a year before!
60.) Rev. Meeks has nothing to do with my campaigning - LIAR. Rev. Meeks
appeared in ads for your Senate Campaign, donated to you, and helped raise
money, then AND NOW. PS - He also seems to despise America.
61.) My wife didn’t mean America is ignorant, she was just using a phrase -
LIAR. Again, MicHELLe’s comments perfectly sync with Wright’s, Meeks’, and
Farrakhans, both in language, anger, and direction.
62.) I am very Anti-Terror - LIAR. [03/30/2008] One of your good pals is long
time radical and terrorist William Ayers, with whom you have been seen in the
last 12 months and who has helped the now jailed khalidi, Professor at Columbia
who invited Ahmadinejad to the University, to raise money for Palestinian
terrorism attacks against Israel. PS - Your church published a pro Hamas
Manifesto - guess you weren’t there on THAT Sunday either? How lucky for you.
63.) I have the best plan to cure the Mortgage Crisis - LIAR. [03/30/2008] You
and your campaign buddy Penny SubPrime Bank Collapse Prizker have had your
little fingers full of subprime cash - Obama has taken $1,180,103 from the top
issuers of subprime loans: Obama received $266,907 from Lehman, $5395 from GMAC,
$150,850 from Credit Suisse First Boston, $11,250 from Countrywide, $9052 from
Washington Mutual, $161,850 from Citigroup, $4600 from CBASS, $170,050 from
Morgan Stanley, $1150 from Centex, and last but certainly NOT LEAST - Obama
received $351,900 from Goldman Sachs. I am sure that cash all came from folks
who knew the subprime loan they had was a dream, eh?
64) I played greater role in crafting liberal stands on gun control, the death
penalty and abortion - LIAR - [03/31/2008] It was found that Obama — the day
after sitting for the interview — filed an amended version of the questionnaire,
which appears to contain Obama’s own handwritten notes added to one answer. Read
Obama had greater role on liberal survey
65) I did NOT play the race card: - LIAR - [03/31/2008] Obama was the first to
play the race card. According to Phialdelphia Inquirer, Quietly, the storm over
the hateful views expressed by Sen. Barack Obama’s pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah
Wright, has blown away the most insidious myth of the Democratic primary
campaign. Obama and his surrogates have charged that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton
has deliberately and cleverly played the race card in order to label Obama the
“black” candidate. Read more here
66) I did not take money from oil companies: - LIAR - [03/31/2008]
THE FACTS: True enough, Obama does not take money from oil companies. No
candidate does. It is illegal for corporations to give money to politicians.
Corporations, however, do have political action committees that collect
voluntary donations from employees and then donate them to candidates. Obama
doesn’t take money from PACs. He also doesn’t take money from lobbyists.
But he does accept money from executives and other employees of oil companies
and two of his fundraisers are oil company executives. As of Feb. 29, Obama’s
presidential campaign had received nearly $214,000 from oil and gas industry
employees and their families, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Center
for Responsive Politics. Clinton had received nearly $307,000 from industry
workers and their families and Republican Sen. John McCain, the likely GOP
presidential nominee, received nearly $394,000, according to the center’s
totals.
Two of Obama’s fundraisers are Robert Cavnar, the chairman and chief executive
of Houston-based Mission Resources Corp., and George Kaiser, the president and
CEO of Tulsa-based Kaiser-Francis Oil Co. Source: Associated press via Yahoo
News
67) “I don’t think my church is actually particularly controversial,” Obama said
at a community meeting in Nelsonville, Ohio, earlier this month. - LIAR - But
yesterday, he told a different story. “Did I ever hear him make remarks that
could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes,” he said in his
speech yesterday in Philadelphia.
Source: ABC News: Buried in Eloquence, Obama Contradictions About Pastor
This is the LAUNDRY LIST OF LIES. Updated to reflect new dishonesties.
The media knows all about this controversy yet they aare determined to make him thenominee
The same media who has already destroyed a good candidate in Howard Dean, John
Kerry and the latest John Edwards. the same media who also tried to destroy the
legacy of Bill Clinton and now wants to destroy Hillary. The same media who
promoted and helped to win the presidency of a charming, lovable, visionary and
a UNITER candidate named George Bush.
Even his supporters are rude check out the reply a Clinton supporter received :

From: Donna Brazile @brazileassociates.com>

Subject: RE: Switching to Republican Party - I'm a Hillary supporter

Date: May 7, 2008 7:48 PM

Honestly, this is the 9th email today, so I believe you're ready to not only
destroy Roe versus Wade, voting rights, civil liberties and civil rights.
Perhaps adding trillions more to the deficits through non stop tax cuts to
the wealthy and 100 more years in Iraq.

Yes, please join Rush and McCain asap. The train has left. Catch it.

Please don't send these emails to working people like myself. Notice you
sent it to my campus address. I am a working class person. Can you find
someone who drinks latte?

Message to the base: stay home

[A. Madrid]

Fear not. Senator Clinton is not leaving the race until there is a nominee. At the end of all the primaries,the pledged delegate difference will be approximately 100 delegates. The job of the Superdelegates, is to choose the candidate with the best chance of winning in November. If they follow that criteria, they will pick Senator Clinton. If they want to protect or win the Congressional and Senatorial races,they may decide for Obama at the expense of losing the White House.

[charleychaplin]

Ted Devine is a loser, giving advise how to win?

[bruce becker]

"Losing your bearings" commonly means losing your knowledge of direction. See also, "losing your moral compass".

http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/get+bearings

Obama was referring to how McCain previously committed to avoid negative campaigning, but now is using this Hamas smear tactic of false claim that the Palestinian government prefers one candidate over another. Losing one's bearings has nothing whatsoever to do with age. Obama is questioning McCain's lack of ethics. McCain has lost his moral compass. He threw it away when he approved waterboarding prisoners and now it is apparently easy to lie about the opponent.

[Ed Almassalkhi]

Hillary owes her coalition- all who believe she is the better candidate and would be the better president- to continue the race until the finish line.
The people votes (ALL VOTES-ALL STATES) will decide who is going to be nominated as the democratic candidate against MacCain, NOT the self proclaimed /Narcissistic pundits, or those neo messianic maniacs and lunatics who want to remake the american politics into a devoid NEW AGE FARCE...

[bruce becker]

It was reported yesterday that a big time donor for Clinton attempted to bribe Pelosi to let Florida count as is, by claiming he would not help the congressional campaigns unless Pelosi supports Clinton's false claim to Michigan and Florida based on the illegitimate non-elections. It is reported that Pelosi told him off and didn't cave in.

Clearly Clinton has debased the brand now.

[Joe Brown]

I think she should stay in the race. I think she has told everyone she was going to fight for everyone, not just that states which have already voted. I think Obama needs to allow all this to play out. As the presumptive nominee continuing to disenfranchise voters is wrong. Whether he wins or loses the next several primaries, it's important to give everyone a say. He put up roadblocks on Florida and Michigan to quell any momentum Clinton would have gained. Let everyone have their say. If Obama is the presumptive nominee, having to listen to the rest of the country will only help his case. Even if the majority of the states he won/will win are republican strongholds. If Obama is truly the candidate of the people, let him face every state not just the ones that were already decided.

[Jane]

I, for one, will never vote for such an arrogant pompous ass as Obama. He has no experience and for all his claims of superior leadership and judgement there is no evidence! Obama is a huge gamble for the Democratic Party. Roll the dice!

[davidjtravers]

Why doesn't everybody just shut up about "Hillary should quit now" and allow the democratic process to run its course. It's the right thing to do. Fellow Democrats, did you want Al Gore to stop the count back in 2000? Didn't think so...Fight the odds!!!

[bruce becker]

robert, it is so strange to see your comments.

What exactly about a man with no short term memory recommends McCain to you? His willingness to waterboard prisoners?

He is not the same guy he was. He is ready to appoint judges which will prevent civil rights. Clinton does not stand for those things.

He wont change the war policy. Clinton does not stand for those things.

Your threat to vote for McCain is based on what? skin color?

[Mimi]

I for one want Hillary to stay in this race- IT'S NOT OVER. Anything could happen to change peoples mind. Why should she quit now. She has tremendous backing Keep going Hillary. I will never vote for Obama.

[Julie]

I agree with Wilma from Scotland - "The media in in the U.S. have gone overboard for Obama and dismissed Clinton for weeks/months".

I am a life-long democrat, but I'm starting to get sick to my stomach at the overt brainwashing coming from Obama supporters who are funneling their unbalanced views as "journalists". The more I see through this (and there are many penetrating CNN), the more I turn to Fox News for some actual balance. Never thought I'd see the day.

[reba shimansky]

Hillary should stay in the race as long as she feel like-it is her choice.

[Jacob Freeze]

Barack Obama won the black vote in North Caralina 91-6%. Hillary Clinton won the white vote 59-36%.

If the black preference for Obama had fallen in the same range as the white preference for Clinton, she would have picked up the difference between 6% and 36%, which would have amounted to 30% of the black vote.

Since African-American voters comprised 33% of the vote in the North Carolina Democratic primary, Hillary Clinton would have received another 30% x 33%, or 10% of the total vote, and Obama would have received 10% less.

Instead of 56-40% in favor of Obama, the vote would have been 50-46% in favor of Clinton, and Hillary Clinton would have won the North Carolina Democratic primary.

[Ross C.]

PUSH NOW, or forever hold your pieces! Hillary's going to sweep the rest of the primaries and win the popular vote. That will be the end of Obama.

[Robert]

I agree that the best thing Hilary Clinton could do is to stay in the contest, but change her attacks against John McCain uniquely - and even galantly and properly promote pro-democratic party ideals without any smugness against or smear of Barack Obama. After all, this is the democratic process.
I personally believe the race is over for her to win, but a if she took this direction, a victory of turning the real issues of this campaign against their real opponents could be hers to hold. This would be the most impressive action I could attribute to her at this moment.

[Bobbi Jo Weber]

I live in Kentucky and I have never missed voting in a primary or an election. Why would anyone want Hillary to drop out before I have had a chance to vote? It is un-American for anyone to even suggest it. What would you have us do, just cancel our election in Kentucky? If I hear one more person say HRC should get out so Obama can concentrate on McCain I am going to pop! If Obama cannot focus on McCain and Clinton at the same time, perhaps he should not be running for President. I would expect that job requires the ability to juggle a few things at a time! Let the voters vote and let the process work. I appreciate the fact that Obama's backers are afraid of what might happen if the race continues and goes to the convention. We certainly want to put forth the strongest candidate to run against McCain so let's wait a few more weeks and see who is the last candidate standing!

[Andy]

The ones who want Hillary to exit now are just defeatist. Let the democratic process takes its course, let every vote be counted including Mich, Florida and the un-committed super delegates and let see how it turn out. Its only fair to her. It will not take very long to find out.

Oh yes, those Democrat bigwigs still think that Obama if nominated will go on to beat McCain ought to get real now.Its a beautiful dream they refuse to wake up from.This is as far as he can get, they should congraguate themselves for it. Obama must be happy for himself too.

[Joe Spleen]

Oh please, Hillary isn't going to back out, she has nothing to lose.
If they decide to count the MI and FL votes, she'll win. If they DON'T count those votes, in four years she'll get the nomination running on the idea that she was cheated out of it this year. (and everybody will buy it).

Assuming Obama does get the nomination this year, it's almost a physical impossibility that he'll win against McCain. Hillary knows this, and knows she's got nothing to worry about. 2012 she'll be a shoe in.

Obama knows he can't win this year - EVERYBODY knows Obama can't win against McCain. So Obama doesn't care what Hillary does, he's in this for nothing but boosting his own popularity. He'll lose the general election and go cry about how america hates black people, write a few books,and ride off into the sunset.

Over the next four years, the press will have continued convincing everybody that a republican president is evil, so Hillary CAN'T lose in 2012.

In fact, I'm willing to bet she doesn't WANT to win this year for that very reason. She knows that whatever democrat runs in 2012 has the presidency almost by default. Another 4 years of anti conservative propaganda WILL have enough effect to guarantee it.

If she were to run against McCain now, it's not so sure that she'd win, and if she lost, she'd never get another chance. I think she is willing to wait the four short years for a sure thing.

[Patti]

God Bless America; where everyone that has an opinion can post it, print it, call it an informed editorial opinion, and get it published for the rest of the uneducated masses to read so that they too can be as informed. Unfortunately, not everyone gets to vote under these opinions. Hillary must stay in the race, if for no other reason than to save face. She’s given her word that she would. As the only candidate that even comes close to voting what she talks, that’s worth something. At this point, you “quit talkers “are ready to tell the people of 5 states that their opinion should not even be heard. Why is that; is your opinion so much more informed because you cast your ballot before the fireworks started? Then there’s the FL/MI debacle where two states that could not change their state law to bow to the DNC, not a law making power by the way, are told by Howard Dean that their votes don't count because their REPUBLICAN governing bodies thought it would be a cool thing to disenfranchise the Democratic voters the DNC is going to go along with it and Senator Obama’s camp is ok with that. Is that inexperience, ignorance, or the “New Way”, not willing to wait their turn for the power they have not the wisdom to mantel? I wonder. Of course, this is an opinion that bears no mention from the press as it might cause an outrage. Besides, of course she’d win those races if she dropped out, have you seen how the GOP is already killing him in the press. If Mitt Romney keep this up, Obama may not be standing for the convention.

[Gorefan]

Alex - Sweets just tried to get to clever with the phasing. I think Sweets is talking about Lieberman not Gore. Either way its not going to happen, McCain is pro-life and Leiberman is pro-choice and the Republicans would implode with that scenario.

[Joshua]

What is this guy talking about? His premise is that Obama would look bad if Clinton dropped out because people would keep voting for her? The majority of people have at least a TV and would hear through the grapevine that Clinton is no longer in the race. This is why Gravel, and Edwards continued to get a few votes earlier on. Because people didn't realized they were done. This guy is a joke and it is no wonder that the two campaigns he ran on lost. Poor thinking. . .

[Mike]

Robert, and other Hillary supporters:

This may be the most important election in our lives. If you refuse to vote for Obama, and allow McCain to become president it cost thousands of Americans lives in Iraq, and maybe even Iran. We are teetering at the brink of major global economic and environmental disaster. Putin is starting the cold war. And you refuse to vote for a candidate with almost Identical policy ideas as your candiate? It doesn't make sense.

And one more point, a little reality check if you wll — although completely unfair, Hilary is one of the most vilified and polarizing figures in American politics. Conservative white men HATE her. She doesn't deserve it, but they do. Most of them don't care much for McCain, and may not support him. But they will come out in droves to vote against Hilary.

Have you ever seen a big-time college basketball team like Duke, or Kentucky play in the NCAA tournament? Their opponents will suddenly have twice as many fans as they came with, even though half of them don't know where that team is from.

That is exactly what will happen to McCain.

Personally I like Hillary. But I have never supported her in this campaign because she is so completely unelectable, especially without the black vote. This has not been a major media story, because Barack (to his credit) has never pushed these sort of negative angles.

Would she be a capable president. Absolutely. But she has no chance of getting their. I am sure another woman can and will, but not one with so much political baggage.

If you think Barack will be crucified by the right, It's nothing compared to what they could do to Hillary. It's the inevitable negative side of decades of political experience. The longer you've been around, the more there is to attack.

[Mona]

Hillary and Bill need to pack up their suitcases and go home...and stay there!

[Jonathan]

Robert - I'm interested to know what makes you support Clinton, but not Obama. Clinton and Obama have extremely similar objectives, whereas McCain is on the other side of the spectrum on almost every issue. What possible presidential policy could you favor McCain over Obama on if you were an actual Clinton supporter. Whiteness? Is there anything else?