$$$

She still has it. It is the lifeblood of a campaign, and without it the campaigner is dead. Until her funds dry up, she'll stick around, no matter how impossible her chances may seem to the rational observer. A lot more could be said about how and why she still has money, given her chances are so close to nil. But how ever you slice and dice it, if she has the dough, she'll continue to go.

I tried to think of reasons why she can't be persuaded to step aside.

What do you think Jesse Jackson's reasons were for not withdrawing in 1988?

As to why she won't quit, I'm a subscriber to the theory she's got a plan A and a plan B. Plan A: kneecap Obama, alienate as many of her own supporters from him as possible, marginalize him as "the black candidate" and hope for some stumble that causes the delegates to hand it to her. She knows that's a 1 in 10 chance at best. Fortunately, doing all of that also bolsters plan B: cripple Obama, throw it to McCain, run against McCain or his veep if St. John follows through on his one term talk and hope the "I toldja so" factor outweighs the accumulated fury she's earning now. She probably thinks this plan has a 50-50 chance of working. Truth is its more like 1 in 10 also. She's simply clueless about the level of antipathy she's building against herself. Like everyone else, she's the hero of her own story and she's surrounded by nothing but people who adore her, none of whom would dare tell her she's on track to have pissed off 60% of the party before its over.

As to why they won't make her quit, that's easy. It's her base--the female single or divorced, white working class middle aged women and the degreed boomer aged old-style feminists, along with a growing number of younger women, The latter are starting to buy into the poor victimized Hillary theory that if x thousand assholes say overtly sexist stuff about Hillary, that proves that everything else that happens to her is because of sexism too.

Every last one of the people in her base who are still actively supporting her are utterly impervious to the harsh mathematical realities. They really think she can win this thing outright and no mere facts can change this belief. Everytime someone has dared to suggest that she can't win and its time for her to stop, these women become infuriated, convinced that this so-called "math" these men are talking about is just another pretext for putting that glass ceiling back over their heads. If the supers push Hillary out before she's ready to do, we could lose all of their votes in November.

So, there the Party's dillema - have the supers vote before the convention and you alienate Hillary's base. Let her "spray the joint with bullets" campaign continue until the convention and you severely weaken the nominee (even if it was her) for the GE.

I have no frickin' idea, of course, but my WAG is she wins it by 8-10 points here. I'm in central PA, near a big university town, and the county flipped to a D. majority for the first time since almost forever with all the new student registration.

But there are a lot of people just outside the bubble here who are the audience for the 'bittergate' blather. And to some extent, they're buying it. I've heard some of them say how it made them dislike Obama. (Of course, my theory is that there is a certain kind of person around here who would NEVER vote for the black guy, and Clinton's way of ginning up the faux outrage was simply a way of giving the racial impulse, which is always there just below the surface, some righteous cover. They're racists, but just chickenshit about admitting it.)

So, not to tell anyone anything they don't already know, the turnout in Philly and the suburban counties is going to be absolutely vital. I suspect that area will go for Obama big, big, big. And not just the AA vote, either. A LOT of disaffected Republicans in the suburbs have switched parties just to vote for Obama. There's a buzz.

The irony is that that's exactly how Rendell won the governorship against Bob Casey, Jr., who's campaigning for Obama now. They're following Rendell's playbook.

The assumption is that by winning big in the Philly media market, that counteracts the reactionary vote in the western part of the state. All well and good, and Rendell won despite losing something like 50 of the other counties. But Casey's also very popular out there, and in the northeast counties. So, while all the polls show that her support and some kind of lead is fairly stable, I harbor a small hope that Casey's influence, plus a big turnout in the AA communities and in the suburbs around Philly will mean a suprise squeaker for Obama. That's probably wishful thinking, but it's possible.

One other point: I think Hillary has already made herself unacceptable in the future. I talk to too many people who've flipped, and who are genuinely, deeply and implacably angry with her and her husband. They're yesterday's fish wrapper to a lot more people than I think she realizes yet. It's not going to be a pretty retirement.

Think Dukakis. Anyone ever think about him anymore?

Yeah. That's what I thought. For two people who so deeply crave affection and public notice, the Vast Ignoring that's going to happen will be painful, indeed. But appropriate.

The more charitable view would be that she believes she's on a mission to save the Democratic Party from itself once again. This is a woman who supported Goldwater in '64, then swung to the left and actively campaigned for McGovern in '72, and saw firsthand how Democratic idealists can't be trusted. And then the long, sad years of Nixon, Reagan, Bush, etc., until she and Bill rode into town and told Democrats they had to kill welfare, throw thousands of potheads in jail, and execute mentally retarded people to win elections. In this case, she sincerely believes that Obama, Moveon and an army of dreamers HAVE to be stopped from taking over the party, and she'll do whatever she can to keep it from happening.

This is what I think, and it's part of a slightly larger picture in which the DLC is trying to hold onto power, while the netroots ad the DNC and Obama are trying to pull the party in another direction. There's a power struggle.

But beyond that, I think it's her - she just can't let go yet. The Juggernaut would have ground to a halt before now if not for her and Bill because they're out of money.

I just wish Obama weren't so tired. Physically tired. That trip on the train, where he had a few miles between stops to look at how beautiful Pennsylvania is and take a catnap and maybe think a bit about what's been behind him and what's ahead, and bounce some of it off Casey and Axelrod - surely that's doing him some good.

But this is really brutal. The schedule, the pressure to be politic, to watch every word, to think before speaking even when he possibly can't pry his eyes open, the adrenaline and the crash from it, every day. He is a human creature, not some automaton,

And whatever happens on Tuesday, he's getting no break. From there it's on to the next, and the next and the next until Mrs. Clinton finally irrevocably loses. And then it's placating the Clintonians who will be livid, simply livid.

Sexual politics has always been toxic, as has racial politics.

I watched my mother buy a beautiful pants suit and go to her job as Admin. Sec'y for a department head at a major university in the late '50s and precipitate a staff/faculty meeting about appropriate dress code for the secretaries. It wasn't even concealed behind the '70s "support staff" title. Just sexual politics.

The thing he needs to pull off now is a contract with the Republicans that presidential debates will be substantive. I think his suggestion that he would switch to public financing for the presidential race if both sides swear off 547s is brilliant. He's throwing McCain a bone that's going to be hard to resist and leaving a way open for him to allow his own 547s to be quite unpleasant if the Big Bucks republican machine refuses his offer.

The biggest problem for him of 547s supporting him is that he can't control them. If they get off message he can't dismiss them like he did with Sam Power. And he needs to retain control of his entire script.

Whether it's a good think to have a candidate exercising that sort of overarching control or not is yet another question. It would be horrible with a Nixon or Cheney, but I like to think it's OK with an Obama.

I may not be correct.

Trying not to repeat myself, but all the evidence suggests that she's made a real commitment to staying in, so it's a waste of time and energy to think about "getting her out." She'll win PA, and even if she loses IN she'll still have KY and WV ahead of her.

I don't think she needs motivation to stay in so much as she would need motivation to get out. She likes campaigning, she's got the money, and she knows she couldn't live with herself if she gave up while there was even a 1 in 1000 chance of pulling it out. Basically, she has no real reason to give up on her "hang around until he really screws up" strategy. The most we can hope for is that she'll see evidence that her negative campaigning is hurting her and she'll shift her attention back to McCain.

But really: she's not going away. Obama's strategy has to be devised around how to campaign with Hillary around his neck, not how to get her off.

"The supers can't just pile on en masse with out the risk of permanently alienating Hillaryites. "

I think this is the reason.

Also many supers are weasels who don't want to make enemies either way.

But I think after PA,NC and IN, you'll see more jump ship.

She can't quit. This race provides both the meaning and justification for her years with Bill. She will not quit. She will take it to the convention.

Could it be that the race isn't over yet because a number of states haven't voted yet? Could it be that there is nothing in the Party rules that says the race is supposed to end before it ends? Could that have anything to do with it? Could it be that Obama's "insurmountable" lead is almost as insufficient for him to declare victory as Hillary's is? Because they are actually quite close, and neither can win without the superdelegates. Could that have anything to do with it? Could it be that Hillary, despite the "yes, yes, yes" answer she was forced to give during the ABC debate, actually believes that an Obama victory equals a McCain victory in November? Could it be that there actually is a possibility she could still win the nomination, and being a fighter with incredible stamina and endurance, she simply isn't going to quit? Hint, the above questions are rhetorical.

because she is like a drug addict who cant see straight unless she gets her high and when she comes down the truth is to painfull for her so she takes another hit.

she is in deep denial about a lot of things.
she felt she was entitled to win this.
she cant believe she is lost.
she must cling onto the false belief that something, anything will happen and she will be vindicated.

and that is the real problem here because all the people who have bankrolled her and expect return are pissed off big time.
they are all like she and bill completly tied into the establishment. there is no difference between her and mccain as far as being washington insiders go.
there will be no change in government if she ever were to be elected. she owes to many people.

they would all prefer to see mccain win because that is their only chance to get one more chance to weild power and profit.

that is why she is willing to do and say anything to hurt the chances of Obama, because lets face it the idea that she will NOT be the nominee is no secret to her.

that the people of Pa. appear willing to give this lier a victory tuesday speaks to their stupidity and forces the rest of us to live in a country where we are subject to the likes of bush and now even potentially worse, mccain.

its makes me sick.

I have definately noticed the blogs appear weary and seem to realize Hillary isn't going to cede the race for the good of the party. She has switched parties before to further her ambitions. Since she was young she determined the presidency was her right.At first she latched on to Bill because she couldn't imagine the nation electing a woman but with this race she is soooo close. It has to be hard to face yourself in the morning knowing she just isn't going to get it so I suspect she has convinced herself she will get this if she just tries hard enough. I have a hard time understanding how she got this far. I am a middle aged white woman that remembers all the nasty distasteful things she has been involved in. I can't help but laugh (though now it is a sad laugh) when she pushes Obama is connected to radicals and bigot preachers when she has been drenched in mud for almost all of her adult life. Does she really think the Republicans would not destroy her? They have so much documented garbage that I can't see them not using most of it during the GE. Screw em will be headlines along with she was fired for unethical behavior as an atty. Does she not realize this? All she has on Obama is relationships while she herself was the problem in many illegal past doings. It's just hard to understand.

Funny how the anti-Clinton crowd never brings up any issues, such as "She's wrong on healthcare! Obama has the right plan!" or "She's wrong on Iraq! Obama has the right plan!"

I wonder ... is that because (a) the anti-Clinton crowd doesn't know the comparative features of the two candidates' plans or (b) they don't care about the candidates' relative positions because they're not voting on issues or (c) both of the above.

I am betting on (c).

Thanks.

mp

I want my president to lead with his best judgement even though I may not always agree. I want him to have enough faith in me to tell me the bad as well as the good. Obama doesn't say HE will change things in Washington he says WE will together. That is the most important difference between Obama and the other two. Screw em isn't in his vocabulary as it is in Hillary's. I trust him and could never trust Hillary. She has told too many lies too many times to be trustworthy. Have you noticed she has started to sound identical to Obama? She just can't understand we heard her before when she wasn't telling the truth. That's my reason I don't care what she is campaigning on, since it is probably a lie.

Michael: This is where Hillary AND her supporters insult all those who have voted for Obama. As a 50+ highly educated white woman, I looked at the issues many months ago. I also looked back at the many elections over my lifetime and how we got to the mess we are in. Most of us "older" people that back Obama, and there are many of us, do so in recognition of the fact that the world has changed and the way things have been done for many years (Hillary's so called "experience") have gotten us no further ahead. Yes, we truly want/need change to move this country forward. We'll see if BO can do it, if he can't I don't believe anyone can, but cert