Hillary Clinton might not want to admit that her long, contentious quest for the Democratic nomination is over, but that's not stopping anyone else. Pundits, politicians, and people alike aren't just coming out of the woodwork; they're breaking down the doors to put the final nail in the coffin of what was potentially the most damaging primary race in modern political history.
Barack Obama himself has had enough. With or without her concession, he's made up his mind: come May 20th, he's declaring victory and taking a celebratory lap. And whether or not they celebrate with him, the rest of the country seems fairly convinced that this is a logical step, if not one that Obama has earned the right to take.
Rasmussen Reports, the national polling juggernaut, isn't even bothering itself with the predicament of just how to deal with Clinton's continued candidacy. An internal email leaked yesterday indicated that the company would no longer be including the former First Lady in presidential polls. As far as they're concerned, she lost.
For its part, the news media seems all but decided as well. NBC's Tim Russert didn't even wait until the results from Indiana had been certified: "We now know who the Democratic nominee is going to be, and no one's going to dispute it." This is a guy that Clinton advisors Paul Begala and James Carville (who likened Bill Richardson to Judas for endorsing Barack Obama) called "the best in the business" in a book they co-authored back in 2001.
Bob Schieffer of CBS, one of the last remaining news legends, wasn't far behind Russert. "Basically," he said, "this race is over." Again, these aren't anti-Clinton propagandists. This is about as mainstream as it gets.
Online news sources were no more forgiving. By 9:00 on the west coast on Tuesday night, DrudgeReport.com was running a picture of Obama with the two simplest, most finite words possible in the caption underneath: "The Nominee."
Even Bill Clinton's allies are disappearing by the handful, despite the fact that they were heavily leaned upon to get Hillary's campaign rolling in the first place. David Gergen, the Senior Political Affairs advisor to Bill, had this to say during CNN's coverage of the May 6th primaries: "I think the Clinton people know the game is almost up."
Another senior Clinton staffer, George Stephanopoulos (the White House Communications Director under Bill Clinton) declared, "This nomination fight is over," and then went a step further, suggesting moreover that Hillary take the VP slot.
By the time you get to the Democratic figureheads, things really start to look ugly. DNC Caucus Chairman Rahm Emmanuel, the lone uncommitted superdelegate from Obama's home state of Illinois (himself a senior staffer during the Clinton White House years) was resigned to admit yesterday, "At this point, Barack is the nominee. Hillary can't win." Emmanuel's prognosis wasn't all bad though- he did suggest that it might be wise for Hillary to stick around...just in case Obama should more or less drop the nomination that is already firmly in his grasp.
Then there was former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, who up until now has made painstaking efforts to remain neutral in the Obama-Clinton feud. While Hillary Clinton "has made a compelling case for her candidacy," he told NPR, making "a compelling case for the math" might not be so easy. "It's very difficult to make the math work." He called Obama the "likely presidential nominee."
And of course, there was the widely publicized defection of George McGovern to the Obama camp. The former Democratic presidential nominee didn't just endorse Barak, he abandoned Hillary to do it. "There's no way mathematically that Hillary could get the nomination," he said. He's won the nomination "by any practical test. I now think the time has come for her to fold her tent and get the party unified, if that's possible."
Even Clinton stalwart Diane Feinstein is admitting to cold feet: "I, as you know, have great fondness and great respect for Senator Clinton and I'm very loyal to her. Having said that, I'd like to talk with her and get her view on the rest of the race and what the strategy is." Translation: "Even I don't get where she's going with this."
You almost start to feel bad for Clinton. Perhaps trying to throw her a bone, Yahoo News ran a story about how Hillary's Hollywood connections remained intact, then went on to cite Fran Drescher as evidence that all was right with Clinton in Tinseltown. But even they had to admit that the movie business lives up to its reputation for being a bit fickle, even when it comes to politics. Said one studio executive: "At this point, the handwriting is on the wall."
But in reality, this has been going on for a while now. Obama has been the frontrunner, the presumptive nominee, the likely candidate- whatever you want to call it- for weeks. It was late March when Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver, a Clinton superdelegate, uttered this gem: "If I had to make a prediction right now, I'd say that Barack Obama will be the next president. I'll be stunned if he's not the next President of the United States."
And don't forget her fellow New Englanders and colleagues in the Senate, Chris Dodd and Patrick Leahy, who declared within a day of each other more than a month ago that Obama's nomination was a sure thing. "It's very difficult to imagine how anyone can believe that Barack Obama can't be the nominee," Dodd said. "I think it's a foregone conclusion."
"There is no way that Senator Clinton is going to win enough delegates to get the nomination," Leahy concurred.
And now that the number of superdelegates to switch camps from Clinton to Obama has reached double digits, Clinton is losing supporters faster than she can sign them up. Eventually, even those delegates will be lost to her.
Democrats need to face the facts: the math hasn't convinced her, and neither has the collective voice of the media, her colleagues, her allies, her supporters, and her party. Hillary Clinton isn't going anywhere. As far as you and I may be concerned, this race is over. But until it's official, until the DNC has stamped Barack Obama's name in the history books in August, Clinton will be right there, regardless of the numbers or the people around her...you know, just in case.
