Is Hillary Clinton preparing for the end? Signs say yes

For political junkies, part of the fun of watching politics is reading the tea leaves. Admit it. Most of you probably saw friends over the weekend -- a little barbecue, maybe, or a kids' sports match.

And if you talked about politics, chances are good the conversation included a little chatter about how and where the Democrats are going to finish up after Tuesday's final votes in Montana and South Dakota.

Well, three fresh factoids have caught our eye. First, Hillary Clinton announced this morning that she'll spend Tuesday evening in New York, the city that never sleeps and that she represents in the U.S. Senate. Not in Montana or South Dakota, where people are voting, but New York City.

Second, Bill Clinton told folks in South Dakota this morning that "this may be the last day I'm ever involved in a campaign of this kind. I thought I was out of politics, till Hillary decided to run. But it has been one of the greatest honors of my life to go around and campaign for her for president."

Third, the folks at Politico report that Mo Elleithee, a Clinton spokesman, tells them that "we just haven't figured out our schedule past Tuesday," so many members of the advance team are being sent home.

(UPDATE: A fourth factoid -- Tom Edsall reports over on Huffington Post that Clinton has taken the "unusual move" of summoning "top donors and backers to attend her speech" Tuesday night in New York.)

Barack Obama has scheduled his own election-night event in St. Paul, site of the September Republican National Convention, and his event can be read as a salvo across the bow for the fall election. What can be inferred from Clinton's picking New York City? Well, it is close to home, and it would be a symbolic place to announce that she is ending her historic run for the White House and devoting her full attentions to the Senate job.

Of course, it could be she just wants to repack a suitcase to start visiting superdelegates in person. But after the Democratic rules committee decision Saturday, the steady seepage of superdelegates Obama's way, and the campaign telling its advance people to take some time off, you gotta wonder.

(UPDATE II: Our colleague Noam Levey reports from South Dakota that Elleithee told reporters aboard the campaign plane this afternoon that "we do not expect a nominee will be clear tomorrow night," signaling that the campaign probably would not end Tuesday. But the Associated Press reports that Clinton advisor Harold Ickes and fundraising director Jonathan Mantz told donors Monday that Clinton probably wouldn't appeal the DNC rules committee decision, and that the campaign expected Obama to secure enough delegates by Wednesday to claim victory.)

-- Scott Martelle

Photo: Associated Press

Comments

[John D]

Ding dong, the witch is...

oh, sorry. What I meant to say is, "Senator's Clinton's gallant campaign in the face of overwhelming adversity has set a new standard in political campaigning."

[dave]

and the election is handed to mccain....

[Daniel]

The end is nigh >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

[Ian Harmer]

I like Obama for all kinds of reasons but I doubt he will ever be permitted by the career bureaucrats to be an effective president. And the muck that will be hurled at him from the right, without concern for truth or fairness, will make what Bill Clinton had to deal with seem like a sprinkling of holy water. Hillary would have problems, too, but would be better equipped to get around them, I suspect. I'll be sorry to see her surrender.

[Bob]

Will Hillary bilk enough money from her supporters to pay her loan back, followed by the vendors she owes?

Perhaps this is her sole reason for lingering as long as she has?

She still has ads running asking for campaign contributions!

Hillary, the Queen of Spin and a Legend in Her Own Mind!

http://klintons.com

[Sean K]

Yeah, right. I'll believe it when I see it. I'm pretty sure there's still gonna be Clinton supporters shambling across the city in tattered clothes, slack jawed and expressionless with arms outstretched in front of them groaning "Cliiiiiiin.... ton". The only thing that will stop them is severe trauma to the brain.

[Sean K]

Just in case some of you are particularly thick headed (clinton supporters? pshaw), that last post was NOT advocating real life attacks on the craniums of Clintonites. It was a Zombie joke.

[veera]

what a fantastic campaign she ran, i have never ever seen such a kind....no matter what happens she is a tough lady and america would have found a better president in her

[Romeo]

See, this is what I mean. Even if Hillary won big in Puerto Rico, she still has to split her delegates. It is not a winner take all kind of thing as in the case of the Republican nominating process. If the Democratic Party just adopted the Republican style of nominating a candidate, Hillary would've been ahead of Obama in popular vote and the number of delegates. Why does the electoral college decide who's gonna be the nominee, and not by popular vote, I don't know. There's something screwy here about the way the voting system has been set up. Why has the Democratic Party come up with this complicated nominating process, I don't know either. Just count the votes. The one with the most votes wins. How complicated is that? I'm beginning to think that my going to the voting polls was just a waste of time.

[Jose]

I believe both candidates, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, are very qualified for the job. What I have observed in this campaign is that there has been a lot of sexism overall. My vote was for Barack Obama, but now I strongly encourage all those who have yet not voted to do it for Hillary Clinton. She has demonstrated courage and wisdom, the last stage of human desire. Barack has spoken about change, but that change has not been made clear so far. SUPERDELEGATES, make Hillary Clinton the candidate for the democratic party, and I promise she will take it to the victory you guys are looking for. It is not over yet....Lets keep on making the progress everyone is looking for.

[Greg]

I think the real question that remains is will she announce it or will Bill have to announce defeat as he did in SC.

Why is it so hard for her to acknowledge defeat?
Obama has no problem congratulating her, so why can't she do the same?

Oh.. I know the answer. I just want to put this out there.
Food for thought.

GO OBAMA!!!!

[Dave Miner]

Mrs. Clinton, it's the only decent thing to do. You lied about sniper fire. This lie stuck.

[Justice Now]

Great news if she is. Nice try and too bad. But besides saying goodbye she must also say Vote Obama. Tenacity is one thing, sour grapes another.

[doug]

At last the end?

Congrats to Hillary for a vigirous campagin and unwavering service to the American People.

An equal applause to our Democratic Presidential cannidate Barack Obama. We all have much to hopeful about in 2008.

[David]

Fifth Factoid - Obama talked to Clinton on phone yesterday and Obama giving victory speech Tuesday night, which is otherwise premature b/c he'll still be 10-20 superdelegates short of nomination, even after SD and Montana. Did HRC already concede, but their two camps agreed to keeping it hush-hush til Tuesday night?

[Fred in Ohio]

Looks like she will end it with some class. It's been an incredible race and she has "been a contender". I believe she'll play an important role in the GE as well as in the administration. Keep on keeping on Hillary.

[William Dollar]

Hillary Clinton is now near the end of the line and only some horrible tragic event could save her failed campaign. Mark Penn and other fools she hired for millions of dollars dvelopled a losing strategy for her. The bottom line is she is politics as usual, and the old Washington D.C. is so rotten to the core that Amererca is willing to take a chance on the new guy. John McCain is an old fool with foolish ideas on how to continue to ruin America. We better all pray this old fool does not end up in the oval office.

[K M Nur]

Whoever the US decides to nominate or vote. I think, Hillary would have been better for Asian Countries. Thats solely my personal opinion.

[William]

Good riddance! What could of been a historically proud moment for American women in politics turned ino one of the most self indulgent and power hungry displays ever.

[Justice Now]

Great news if she is. Nice try and too bad. But besides saying goodbye she must also say Vote Obama. Tenacity is one thing, sour grapes another.

[JRG]

Good to see it ending; she was so very polarizing, yet it did get more people energized in the process of government in this country. Time for Obama to move forward and win this thing.

[Lalit S. Chaube]

I hope she is able to see, what the rest of country has seen for sometime, it was a spirited attempt, but fell short, and OBAMA is a better candidate.

I am assuming this is an early discussion of 2012 primary, but OBAMA is a better candidate for the country today and in 2012, so for HRC , this is it for the presidential ambitions.

[Paul in Venura]

I believe Senator Clinton will do the right thing for her party and for herself. She will bow out this week.

If she is not the VP, she probably will be the first woman Senate Majority Leader, a very powerful position.

[Richard]

No! Hillary should go to the convention! And they should vote for both nominations - President & VP! She is far more ready to lead and beat McCain than novice Hussein Obama. When it comes to the real voters they will never chose a minority. And women are not minority :)

[Sammy Sezso]

I wish there hadn't been so much preemptive blaming. If Barack loses in Fall 2008, his excuse is going to be Hillary's lengthy primary contest. Hillary casts accusations toward the media for sexism, but never attributes an adjustment for their perceived favoritism despite the predominantly white faces among the media and Obama's complexion. How about this: If Obama loses it's because no Democrat has ever won the presidency without making significant wins in the South, and he has obvious problems there, both with his color and with his relatively dovish military position. As to whether or not Hillary has set herself up nicely for a leadership role in 2012 if Obama loses, what difference will it make -- there won't be much of a world left after four more years of Bush-"thinking" propagated by McCain.