When Hillary Clinton throws in the towel, how far will she toss it?

Perhaps it was absurd to think that a Hillary Clinton concession speech could ever be a neat and simple matter. As it is, the initial orchestration of the one she's preparing to give at the end of this week has been anything but.

It had surprised many, including some of her high-profile supporters on Capitol Hill, that on Tuesday night she made no public acknowledgment that Barack Obama had surpassed the number of delegate commitments needed to claim the Democratic presidential nomination.

As the hours crept by on Wednesday, even those who had cut her some slack began to grow a bit concerned that it remained unclear what she had in mind.

Finally, though, word surfaced early in the evening on the East Coast that she had picked Friday to announce she would be folding her tent.

Better a little late than a lot late, in the eyes of most party leaders. Still, some confusion reigned.

At first, it was unclear whether Clinton's speech would take place in New York or Washington. But then, what remains of the Clinton campaign issued this statement:

"Sen. Clinton will be hosting an event in Washington, D.C., on Friday to thank her supporters and express her support for Sen. Obama and party unity."

Shortly thereafter, an amended statement was released:

"Sen. Clinton will be hosting an event in Washington, D.C., to thank her supporters and express her support for Sen. Obama and party unity. This event will be held on Saturday to accommodate more of Sen. Clinton's supporters who want to attend."

As we said, it was foolish to assume this would be easy.

Intriguingly, missing from either statement is the e-word: endorse.

Perhaps that's a meaningless nuance. But between now and her remarks, speculation will run rampant over such matters. And once she says her piece, virtually every sentence -- as well as the event's choreography -- will get pored over for clues on how sincere her embrace of Obama has been.

The Times has more on Clinton's exit from the race here.

-- Don Frederick

Comments

[BJ]

She should throw it as far....

AS IT CAN GO TO SMACK PELOSI, DEAN & REID in their faces!

And for good measure whip the tip at Ted and Obama too.

The cocky and arrogant Obamabots think he can win on his own in November. Never gonna happen. Even if Hillary is constrained to follow her party and give in, WE, HER SUPPORTERS are NOT CONSTRAINED to STAY in the DEMOCRATIC PARTY.

How can anyone, the media, party leaders, or OBAMA for that matter, NOT know how vehement & vitriolic his supporters are? And they are proud of them? Listen, most of these obnoxious brats are dependent on their allowances still, and are hardly the type anyone can "count on" for anything. Flakey.

[lightnin]

Heard on the news a couple of days ago that, over the past 15 years, while "Rev." Wright has been spewing his hate-filled, racist, anti-American, anti-white speeches, and Obama has "not-heard" any of that, their "church", which recently gave a Lifetime Achievement award to Louis Farrakhan, has quietly been the recipient of $15,000,000 of our tax dollars! They are probably still getting it!

How'd they arrange to get that much of our tax money, who set that up, do you think? Separation of church and state? Has that been repealed? Do you think anybody should ask Obama if he had anything to do with getting that "church" this money? If he didn't, who did? Shouldn't we know?

[Jonathan]

Hit the showers Hillary, you reek of failure.

[News Watcher]

Isn't it obvious that Sen. Clinton had to stay in the race to keep recieving contributions from hillaryclinton.com? Postponing the inevitable buys her 4 or 5 days of continued income. Campaigns carry a heavy bill. No pun intended.

[08vote]

I've always viewed Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg as smart, classy, elegant.... she has grace, poise, and beauty....ALL THE THINGS Hillary Clinton wishes she possesses. ALL THE THINGS her ardent support obviously lack, as well.

[08vote]

I SENSED IT WAY BACK WHEN HILLARY ANNOUNCED HER CANDIDACY BY STATING THE PHRASE "...I'M IN IT TO WIN" AND NOW IN COMBINATION WITH HER LACK OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF OBAMA'S VICTORY LAST NIGHT, IT ONLY PROVED THAT IT WAS REALLY MOSTLY ABOUT HER, HILLARY CLINTON, AND NOT THE GREATER NEEDS OF THIS COUNTRY. SHAME ON YOU HILLARY, SHAME ON YOU! (and to think, you almost did win).

[RE]

Hillary has managed to not only cause friction within her own party, but she has also given women a bad name by being a stubborn, whiny, "I want things my way - PERIOD - kind of psuedo leader. She thought she could easily ride Bill's coattails into office, but he was a far better president than she could ever hope to be. We need a change in this country, not the same old stodgy politicians we have had for way too many years. CHANGE is what we need and Obama can bring that!

[Dave]

In the imortal words of Glinda, the good witch of the north, "Let the joyous news be spread, the wicked old witch at last is dead!"

[Alessandro Machi]

I've already debunked this on my blog. Dan Abrams had an embarrassing exchange with a guest on his show who laughed at the premise that Congress was upset with Hillary Clinton, it's all made up by MSNBC.

http://www.CaucusCheating.com
http://www.Hillary-Wins.com
http://www.Florida-Michigan.com
http://www.CaucusConfession.com

[GEAH]

Sen. Clinton has never been a quitter, and she shouldn't quit now.

Until the superdelegates actually vote, their vote is up for grabs and can change. Sen. Obama does *not* have enough delegates (from elections and caucuses) to win.

It's anyone's race and Sen. Clinton should stand up from women worldwide and continue her struggle for gender equality.

[Cam]

The Democratic party has selected it's nominee for the 2008 Presidential race and that candidate is Barack Obama. Of course, it won't be official until the convention, but it's close enough to be effectively factual. When your candidate doesn't win, you can hate it and whine about it all you want, but if your support is worth a damn, you should respect their wishes. If Hillary throws her support behind Barack, you should too. If you don't, then your support was as meaningless as your sense of loyalty.

[Alessandro Machi]

May I add that Huffington Post and MSNBC have been working as a team to derail Hillary Clinton, presumeably with George Soros in the background.