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COLUMNISTS
TODAY'S STORIES
06.05.2008
Does Hillary Know It's Over?

Hillary began her (somewhat premature) Indiana "victory" speech on an up note, throwing an old Obama quote about how Indiana would be a PA/NC/IN tiebreaker back in his face. But since then she's sounded a little dispirited to me. When she delivered a line about the primary race is "so close," her  heart really didn't seem in it to me--it reminded me of her weak delivery of that "change you can Xerox" debate line she seemed embarassed to utter. And talking about the future contests in West Virginia and Kentucy, she sounded very rote as she read from a script. It sounded more like she was talking about a trip to the dentist's office.

I may be imagining all this, it's easy to project based on what you suspect is happening. But Ben Smith notices something similar.

Update: David Gergen saw something else that I didn't: "It looked as if Chelsea's heart was breaking... She almost seemed near tears a few times." (But scanning back through the speech on Tivo I really don't see it.)

--Michael Crowley 

Posted: Tuesday, May 06, 2008 10:52 PM with 9 comment(s)

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eharder2 said:

I think she'll realize tomorrow that it's over and concede the nomination.

May 6, 2008 11:22 PM

roidubouloi said:

Who cares if Hillary knows its over.  She's nuts and will continue to run just so she can continue to enjoy time in center court for a while longer.  The question, per rhubarbs, is whether her donors know that it is over and are ready to stop throwing their money away.

May 6, 2008 11:28 PM

virginiacentrist said:

Mike:

After reading this post, I watched the speech about 100 times trying to find hints of pain in the Clintons eyes (I could live off of water and Hillary Clinton's tears for 20 days). I couldn't find it.

May 6, 2008 11:28 PM

hemlock41 said:

I didn't see the "crestfallen" posture or the tears in Chelsea's eyes either. I think Gergen was off on this one.

May 6, 2008 11:44 PM

hemlock41 said:

But I also didn't get the sense that Hillary's heart wasn't in her speech. I think she's planning to keep going... and going... and going... (Groan.)

May 6, 2008 11:46 PM

liberal reformer said:

Eharder2: Hillary is not about to drop out. She has only begun to fight. This could go on forever. What do you all think about Gov. Phil Bredesen's idea, which he broached in a New York Times op - ed a number of weeks back about holding a convention of superdelegates this summer before the Democratic Party's convention to decide on the nominee?

May 7, 2008 6:11 AM

Rhubarbs said:

I didn't get a crestfallen sense at all last night. Hillary was just as Shatneresque in her speaking style as ever. I think she really does believe that new states will be invented as needed to keep this going. If she needs to loan herself more money to make it to the "critical" and "decisive" primaries in Calisota, Moosylvania, Pennsyltucky, and, thanks to the new "Grand Theft Auto IV", Alderney, then she'll write that check and start looking for places to hold town halls in those and other as-yet-unknown states. Plus maybe Canada.

And just to help observers understand where Hillary is going with this, here are the 46 states with which Team Hillary hopes to win the nomination:

en.wikipedia.org/.../List_of_fictional_U.S._states

May 7, 2008 8:19 AM

blackton said:

anyone notice how she dissed Oregon in her speech. Typical Hillary, if a state doesn't look like it will vote for her, it is not there. Damn well sure people in Oregon noticed.

May 7, 2008 10:10 AM

teplukhin2you said:

"shatneresque"?

A British scatological pun?

May 8, 2008 2:58 AM

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