Christopher, I would agree but for the fact I think you're too optimistic. Hilary's attacks on Obama were showing results in polls and election returns, forcing him to defend himself. Yes, his speech helped him recover *partially* from the first instance of the Wright problem. But her strategy remains to damage him so severely that the party will have to turn to her. She has raised the Wright controversy repeatedly, even on Fox and with Scaife.

I *DO NOT* think anybody in the Obama campaign or any prominent Obama supporters or superdelegates should *publicly* call on her to withdraw. That's because many of Hilary's supporters will feel she wasn't given a fair shot. On the other hand, if she continues to attack, Obama will have to defend himself because her highly professional operation has shown the capacity to destroy his candidacy.

My take on the polls about supporters of either candidate defecting to McCain or staying home are that many of them really will. Hilary's campaign tactics are quite effectively driving both groups. Many Obama supporters find Hilary's tactics truly repugnant. When she called it "the fun part" it doubly offended Obama supporters. Hilary's supporters seem to take her at her word that she won Florida and Michigan fair and square and is being cheated out of the nomination. She has weaved a narrative convincing many of her supporters that she and they have been swindled by a devious junior senator from Illinois who somehow seized control of the Democratic National Committee way back when everybody thought Hilary had the nomination sewed up. Somehow Obama connived to hold caucuses where there should have been primaries, and deceived delegates into thinking they had obligations to support the candidates they pledged to support, and twisted the arms of superdelegates into believing results outside the states she won had some phantom legitimacy. Hilary didn't lose; Obama didn't win--he stole the election.

So there we are. Hilary's tactics have turned many Obama supporters against her and many of her supporters against Obama. Among other aspersions, her campaign has accused him of "Ken Starr" methods, reviving a badge of victimhood based on a genuine historic record of persecution well known to all Democrats, especially her supporters.

If Obama doesn't fight back, he loses and a lot of his supporters *will* desert a party Hilary controls. If Obama does fight back and wins, many of her supporters will boycott Obama because they think he stole the nomination. This could happen precisely because of the depth of hostility Hilary's campaign artfully aroused among supporters of *both* candidates.

The only way to avoid calamity is for Hilary, on her own, to acknowledge there was no stab in the back, that the people have spoken through legitimate electoral processes. If people push her to withdraw and she grudgingly does so, she'll set up Obama for a fall.

It's ironic that only Hilary can rescue the party from this situation. That's consistent with her campaign's claims. What they don't mention is their role in creating the situation and the especially ironic twist that she can only rescue the party by ending her own candidacy--conceding the nomination, calming her loyal followers, and giving Obama her full support after his fair victory. It won't unmake the wounds inflicted, but it might stop the bleeding and allow Democrats to start thinking about their candidate vs. McCain.

"Sen. Obama needs to do something as well. He needs to ignore any future attacks by the Clinton campaign, and simply assume the role of presumptive nominee. He cannot lose ground to Sen. Clinton in the remaining contests to the degree that the nomination is in serious jeopardy, barring the complete collapse scenario (CCS). His campaign can make significant progress for the general election by running as the Democratic nominee, opposed not by Sen. Hillary Clinton, but by Sen. John McCain."

Cut the part about "ignoring future attacks" and you're getting close. Obama IS the "presumptive nominee," if you look at the numbers. He starts pulling more into the coalition every time he attacks McCain and tells people HE, not Hillary, is ready to lead.