Hillary Rosen: "I'm not a bargaining chip. I'm a Democrat."

Hillary Rosen, a Clinton supporter of the highest level, is saddened by Hillary Clinton's performance last night. You know Ms. Rosen. She's often seen on TV supporting the point of view of the Clinton campaign. Today, in an article in the Huffington Post Ms. Rosen expresses her profound disappointment in Hillary's speech last night.

I know she is exhausted and she had pledged to finish the primaries and let every state vote before any final action. But by the time she got on that podium last night, she knew it was over and that she had lost. I am sure I was not alone in privately urging the campaign over the last two weeks to use the moment to take her due, pass the torch and cement her grace. She had an opportunity to soar and unite. She had a chance to surprise her party and the nation after the day-long denials about expecting any concession and send Obama off on the campaign trail of the general election with the best possible platform. I wrote before how she had a chance for her "Al Gore moment." And if she had done so, the whole country ALL would be talking today about how great she is and give her her due.

Instead she left her supporters empty, Obama's angry, and party leaders trashing her.

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Clinton Supporters: How Can We Not Support Obama Now?

Senator Obama has passed the necessary threshold to win the title of (presumptive) Democratic nominee tonight. So, for the record, the guy just won my vote and support tonight, too.

Congratulations and a shout out to all of Obama's supporters and to the Senator from Illinois, himself. Let's move forward with the task at hand; let's work together and seek unity to kick some Rethug and Neocon ass in the Fall. It's time! In fact, it's urgent and way overdue.

I ask all the Clinton supporters reading this: How can you have any questions about what you're going to do now? Are you kidding me? Are you "insane?" Ask yourself these questions:

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NY Times: Obama "Wheezing Across Finish Line."

As Adam Nagourney, Carl Hulse and Jeff Zeleny noted in an excellent piece in today's NY Times, "No Roadmap for Democrats as Race Ends," really nobody's certain what's going to happen later this week. Perhaps, not even Hillary Clinton.

Looks like--at least for a few days if not a lot longer than that--she's leaving her options open, at least two of the three obvious ones, with either: a.) not endorsing Obama immediately and suspending her campaign until the Convention, or, b.) endorsing Obama sometime after this week being the two most likely end results for her campaign. (The third option, "c." would be to continue to campaign throughout the Summer, and while not a certainty, it doesn't look like that's viable at the moment.)

And, according to CNN's Jessica Yellin, reporting from San Juan, Puerto Rico moments ago, indications are that at least through Wednesday or Thursday, Clinton will be in Washington, D.C. lobbying superdelegates there quite hard for their votes.

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NY Times: It May Not Be Over; Obama Pressures SuperD's

Adam Nagourney, Carl Hulse, and Jeff Zeleny team up for a most interesting piece in today's (Sunday's) New York Times, entitled: "No Road Map for Democrats as Race Ends."

There are some very insightful observations in this piece, including the realities that:

--The expectation is that enough Superdelegates will rally around Obama for him to declare an overall victory on Tuesday. But Nagourney, Hulse and Zeleny couch that in a variety of unknowns and questions (in terms of actions of others, i.e.: Hillary, the Superdelegates, etc.);

Her associates said the most likely outcome was that she would end her bid with a speech, probably back home in New York, in which she would endorse Mr. Obama. Mrs. Clinton herself suggested on Friday that the contest would end sometime next week.

But that is not a certainty; Mr. Obama's announcement on Saturday that he would leave his church was just another reminder of how events continue to unfold in the race. She has signaled her ambivalence about the outcome, continuing to urge superdelegates to keep an open mind and consider, for example, the number of popular votes she has won. Gov. Phil Bredesen of Tennessee, a superdelegate who has been at the forefront of calling for uncommitted Democrats to make a choice soon after the last vote, said in an interview that Mrs. Clinton called him last week and urged him to "keep an open mind until the convention."

My emphasis added in bold, here.

--Clinton's actually done significantly better than Obama since the beginning of March, to the point where the piece notes that Obama's "wheezing across the finish line;"

In many ways, Mr. Obama is wheezing across the finish line after making a strong start: He has won only 6 of the 13 Democratic contests held since March 4, drawing 6.1 million votes, compared with 6.6 million for Mrs. Clinton.

--Heavy pressure's being applied by the Obama campaign to get SuperDelegates to come out before Tuesday, and it doesn't appear to be working, as is evident to anyone following the dearth of these newly-announced endorsements in the past couple of days;

"A number of people have reported that various members intend to endorse AFTER the last primary," said one e-mail message to wavering delegates from Mr. Obama's supporters, its warning barely couched. "Those members need to understand that they won't get any visibility from that."

Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, who endorsed Mr. Obama nearly two months ago, recently called Gov. Bill Ritter Jr. of Colorado, who has yet to endorse a candidate. "Hey, Ritter!" Mr. Richardson said. "After June 3, it means nothing. Those who take a little bit of a risk, he'll remember you."

On the other end of the line, Mr. Ritter demurred, saying he had pledged to remain neutral until the primary season ends.

--The race may be a bit more uncertain on the Superdelegate side of the field than some have been led to believe; Nagourney & Co. count a little over a dozen of the 150, or so, remaining undecided Superdelegates as being in Obama's camp;

At least a dozen uncommitted delegates are viewed by both camps as almost certain to side with Mr. Obama once the primary season ends. But there are dozens of uncommitted superdelegates who resisted endorsements for reasons that are personal, political and pragmatic -- ranging from a fear of alienating contributors to reluctance among lawmakers from relatively conservative districts to be identified with either Mr. Obama or Mrs. Clinton.

My emphasis added again in bold, here.

--Clinton has three options at this point, and it's not certain which of the three choices she'll actually make:
   a.) stay in the race until the convention--highly unlikely but still on the table;
   b.) suspend her campaign and not endorse Obama--not the top pick but not the bottom pick either;
   c.) drop out and endorse Obama--likely but by no means definite.

I'm still of the opinion that Senator Clinton is going to choose "b," above. I believe she'll suspend her campaign and not do anything else. Especially after Saturday's events, and based upon the tone of Maggie Williams' email this past evening.

It does appear she will do something within a couple of days after this coming Tuesday. Exactly what she'll do is not really known. If you saw Ickes tonight, and read the email that Maggie Williams sent to supporters this evening, at face value, the Clinton folks are quite pissed-off right now.

Despite what all the pundits are saying, there really is a great deal of uncertainty as to what Senator Clinton intends to do--if anything--later in the week.

This does not surprise me. The fact that this really could end up at the Convention is not as outrageous today as it was 48 hours ago.

We're not in Senator Clinton's shoes, so who are we to judge?

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Do it at the Convention, and not before...

It's about respect for ALL Democrats, stupid!

The nerve of Hillary Clinton staying in the race--albeit perhaps with a suspended candidacy--until the Convention?!?!

The Convention. It's not a variety show. It's not a holiday weekend for senior Democrats. It's not that, historically. It's not that according to the rules!

Minor omitted detail throughout much of this blog and most of the blogosphere: This is the closest Democratic Primary in generations. Bar none! Forget about Clinton for a moment. Think of it this way: Don't disrespect half the Party!

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