I can't find the link to the .wav file, but imagine Nelson Muntz saying this: "Ha ha!"

One wonders whether there is anything that Hillary wants other than to hang on to the dream, and postpone the grieving, for as long as she possibly can.  One also wonders whether there is anyone, including Bill, who could counsel her that she did her best, but it is time to give it up.  Does she have it within her to give a truly gracious and magnanimous speech endorsing Obama and at least appearing to give heartfelt praise of him as the best man to lead the country forward?

stgla, perfect, just perfect.

HAHA!

www.ilovewavs.com/.../HaHa.wav

Did Richardson just end this or is it going to take Pelosi?

roid, if Hillary had it in her to leave the race gracefully, she would have done so weeks ago.

I always tend to value loyalty, probably too much.  So Terry M's outburst struck me as something I'd think.

When I read that Richardson considered himself pretty much a *Bill* guy, said very tactfully but clearly, I thought he was preparing them and hmself to deal with the inevitable disappointment of the Clintons in him.  

I'm a Bill guy too.

As much as I hate how the intraparty squabble is giving McCain a free ride, it's going to take more than a Richardson endorsement or even a superdelegate Obama wave to convince Clinton to let it be.  

We've consistently seen in this campaign, that in the eyes of her campaign and the obsequious media, it only counts as defeat if she fails to meet some convenient goalpost, preferably one conjured up about 2 days before the contest.

That said, it looks like the superdelegates will have a longer memory... anything less than a double-digit PA victory and expect to see Dean and Pelosi offering Clinton a free (and public) lesson in 4th grade arithmetic.

Does anyone other than an Obamabot really think that the superdelegates would try to push Clinton out now, when the same polls that they used to rave about now show that just 36% of white voters would support him?

He may woo them back, but until he does, not even the TNR-koolaid gulpers can be moronic enough to think that the superdelegates want to be seen giving the nomination to the guy whites and Hispanics don't like.

And no, Richardson doesn't count as a Hispanic.

Incidentally, didn't Hillary win his state? It appears that Obama only wants the superdelegates to change *his* way.

I think Richardson has made the calculation I've made.  That now there is no way Hillary can win the general election.

Here's my thinking.  Hillary's only shot to win the general election was to make quick work of her Democratic opponents and rise on a wave of Democratic acclaim to the nomination.  Why?  Because her negatives with the general public are just so darn high.  In order for her to win in the general against any of the crop of non-fringe Republicans who choose to run she would need the complete and total devotion and dedication of all the segments of the Democratic base.  Against a maverick like McCain who draws in some Democratic support this need is doubled.

But unfortunately for Hillary, Obama comes along and becomes the Great Black Hope after Iowa.  Blacks such as myself who thought he didn't have a real chance and who were resigned to Hillary are suddenly whipped up into a frenzy by the thought that we might actually live to see a black president.  A black man acceptable to whites.  Blacks flock to Obama in droves.  

Now Hillary in order to win the nomination must destroy the Great Black Hope and thereby anger a huge section of the Democratic base whose huge turnout for her in the general election she CANNOT do without.  And make no mistake.  At this point if Hillary is deemed responsible for stopping Obama blacks will be enraged against her.  Yeah, she'll probably still beat McCain in the black vote but not by the margins enjoyed by Gore and Kerry and definitely not with the same number of black votes to count in her favor.  Remember that even with record black turnouts for Gore and like 90% of the black vote Gore barely beat Bush in the popular vote and lost the electoral vote and the election.

So now, thanks to Obama, Hillary cannot win the general election.  Obama, on the other hand, can still win the general because he does not have the high negatives with the general public that Hillary has and almost all of Hillary's base of support will neither cross the aisle for McCain nor stay home in droves in the general election.  The only hope for Hillary at this point is if Obama self-destructs in a way in which black voters cannot point to her and blame her for.    

Richardson I think has figured this out.  I think he realized with the Wright flap that Obama will survive and is not going to self-destruct in the way I just specified.  Hopefully the other superdelegates will quickly figure this out too.  

Why should Richardson be loyal to Hillary Clinton for something Bill Clinton did?

Or is it really Bill Clinton running for president in McCaullifs mind??

I'm always amazed at the breadth of knowledge of the people on these boards, so I have what may be a dumb question- once a candidate drops out of the primaries, conntenders such as Richardson, does he release his pledged delegates?  Edwards certainly had many.  So what happens with his delegates?

Hillary must be so angry and hurt. Her problem actually is her level of "experience" as she is one of those people (all to common in politics - just look at 1600 Pennsylvania's current resident) who, once thy've been around no longer believe that they are not right about everything. Just listen to how often she says the word I and even bobs her head in agreement with her self. I believe that people who feel entitled cannot understand why others don't see it that way. I know this sounds a bit pathetic - that's the point.

jmkerr, 36% of white people after his worst week of the entire campaign? Not too shabby. I expect that number to be around 40-45% in a month. That coupled with black support of 85+% and latino support around 40% would be more than enough to seal PA.

Also, don't you remember that caucuses, especially in small states, don't count? Per Mark Penn's logic, Hillary didn't win jack in NM because the contest was irrelevant.

I do agree, however, the Richardson will have nominal influence on the Hispanic electorate. Other Hispanic super delegates...I don't know.

As for McAuliffe's anger at Richardson's supposed disloyalty.  Energy Secretary is probably the worst cabinet position- no real prestige like State, Defense, or Treasury,  but all sorts of things can go wrong - reactor accidents, hanky-panky and loose security at nuclear weapons labs etc.  As for Richardson's stint at the U.N., I think he paid his dues when the White House asked him to please, please, get Monica Lewinsky a job there.

On the "loyalty" thing, the idea that favors done by a politician are owed to his wife when she runs for office is deeply, fundamentally un-American. If that's really how the Clintons think, then they belong in the Giuliani list of truly dangerous, possibly Putinesque politicians. Is that how the Clintons think? I sure hope not.

Anyway, once you've run for and won statewide election on your own, whether to the Senate or the governorship, you really don't owe the guy who appointed you to midlevel bureaucratic jobs anymore. Thank goodness Harry Truman understood this when he walked away from the corrupt political machine that started his career!

Maybe Obama will survive white America's realization that angry black people won't kill them.

As part of the few, the proud, the "Richardson faithful" I can attest that I wasn't exactly waiting for marching orders, but now that they've come I'm quite pleased that they're pointing me where I was headed already.

ackyri, would you like to see Richardson in the cabinet, and if so, where?

Oh I quite agree Rhubarbs - I'd even go so far as to say it's a borderline personality flaw in a politician in many cases, there is no zero sum game with loyalty except this: your only loyalty must be to your constituents and to your country.

I'm uncomfortable with gloating, its spiritually dangerous and put yourselves in their shoes - ho wmuch would you like people gloating in the face of your disappointment and often heartbreak.  It's bad karma and arrogant.

Woland: Excellent post and analysis.

At this point, the only thing keeping Hillary going is an ultimately destructive sense of entitlement. She doesn't seem to care that her husband's really hard-earned reputation is going down the tubes. She doesn't care if she damages Obama for the general election. She doesn't seem to care what happens to the party of compassion. All that matters is her and her being a winner.  And she has never experienced a loss in a political campaign. So she's in denial. I just hope she hasn't caused so much damage that the corrupt and self-serving Republican Party ecks out a victory. The cost would be so high, particularly with the Supreme Court, as ever, in the balance.

I was a Hillary supporter and donor. I have been really turned off by her campaign.

"...Obama comes along and becomes the Great Black Hope after Iowa." - woland

I believe, monsignor woland,  this portion of your analysis is remiss.  If Senator Obama is any sort of "Great...Hope," he is unmistakably the "Great AMERICAN Hope."  He is Not merely Black - he is caucasion too.  Whereas a Bluto quote would be canny, Mr. Obama IS - appreciable or not -  analogous to a Bill Murray quote sans "Stripes," "He's a mutt, the most lovable dog."

In short, Obama is one of us - he is an American.

However many times Clinton appointed Richardson, it will undoubtedly never happen again after this... Wonder if Obama promised him a spot on the ticket...

hm...Obama has 36% of the white vote, add the 15% of the black vote adds up to 51% in most peoples book. Not a landslide granted, but victory nontheless.

Bukharin:

Can Obama be both the great American and the great black hope? I think so.

And I don't think his blackness merits the "mere" tag. We, on this side of the reason line, tend not to use such terms when discussing race and ethnicity.

Woland, his ecclesiastical category notwithstanding, makes a good point -- Hillary's narrowing path to victory seems, at this moment, to go right through the hearts of American Negroes (like myself). Which means that the Clinton campaign's hopes for the White House are, well, something like a fairytale.

I thought that retired Air Force General (and Obama surrogate) Tony McPeak's likening of Bill Clinton

At first I didn't want to believe that Hillary is determined to make sure Obama doesn't win in November, but it's becoming obvious that is what she's up to. In her Lady Macbeth mind she no doubt thinks it's the right thing to do for the country, and not so she can run against Uriah Heep in 2012.

Yeah, Hillary is clearly trying to damage Obama at this point, but I haven't nailed down her exact nefarious aims yet.  So, let me specualte wildly.  Would Hillary approach McCain about a "unity ticket" w/ her as veep (set up to run in '12 or '08, if McCain is too aged at that point) and sell the plan based on their ability to seek the support of Sam Nunn and all the other "third way" old heads who had that summit in Oklahoma???  She clearly cares more about herself than the Democratic Party (whose "elders" are actively rejecting her candidacy one-by-one) and she and McCain are pretty chummy, so crazier things have happened.  McCain isn't exactly in love with the GOP base, either, so he could be down.  They could play on the whole "end to partisanship" vibe that is so "hot" right now "out in the provinces."  Then again, it would almost certainly open up a Huckabee third party run, grabbing up all the snake-handlers.  But a McCain-Clinton ticket would be the only place for neo-cons and fiscal conservatives to go at that point.  Plus all Hillary's "Archie Bunker" and "Subaary grandma" voters.  I certainly hope this is not the case (as a Dem and Obama supporter,) but she is too smart to not realize that the nomination is not winnable at this point for her.  And I think she might actually find that more palatable than being Barack's #2.  Would be a very interesting race if that all came to pass (which I obviously think is highly improbable, but realistic enough a possibility for wild speculation, I would say.)

err... "SPECULATE wildly" about Hillary's "SUBARU grandmas"

Also - Obama-Richardson '08 makes a lot of sense.  Richardson is a Latino (yes, he is) and has 20-ish years of Beltway experience under his belt on a wide range of relevant issues.  But he has also kind of been able to shake the "insider" vibe with his recent years "back" in New Mexico growing beards and wearing cowboy ties all the time.  He is old enough that the ticket won't look like a complete generational struggle to the aging Boomers, but also (relatively) young (and diverse) enough to not really take anything away from Obama's already stark contrast with "old white dude" John McCain.  He's also basically a centrist, so he could be pretty good at bringing the Democratic Leadership Council-type folks back into the fold behind Obama's candidacy.  And he's a total political realist, so he would be more than happy to (non-threateningly) be a ground-breaking VICE President of the United States, thank you very much.