Hillary Clinton - the Day After

The race in Indiana wasn't called until after I went to bed, but the final was so close that it probably did more damage to Clinton's hopes than anything. Politico has information on what comes next for the Clinton campaign:

The campaign goes on, but the chatter today has already begun on the truce Obama appeared to offer Clinton last night with his conciliatory, forward-looking speech, and whether Clinton will more or less embrace it. There's no imperative that she actually drop out, but it now becomes hard for her to sustain a full-out, combative campaign -- to stay on offense, and to raise the money it takes to do so.

Writes Mike Allen, who gets more reporting done before 7:00 a.m. than anyone else I know:

"She may continue the campaign, but the harsh attacks are over."

If she wants to contradict that quickly congealing conventional wisdsom, she'll have to go after Obama hard in West Virginia today, which would be a shift from the muted tone of her speech last night, and of her fundraising email. If not, this quickly becomes a question not of whether, but of when and how.

And this:

Damping down speculation that she'll leave the race, Clinton adds a noon event in Shepherdstown, WV to her schedule today.

Also, Clinton spokesman Phil Singer denies Clinton cancelled morning show appearances, saying they were never scheduled.

I'm not really sure what Clinton hopes to accomplish by continuing at this point. I think her argument to superdelegates is now pretty much shot, and maybe she'll continue just long enough to figure out a graceful exit.

Political Wire has a round-up of commentary on Hillary's chances:

Marc Ambinder: "Barack Obama is, by almost every measure and by almost every unmeasurable impression, on the precipice of being able to declare victory and have his declaration be accepted by the media and his party."

George Stephanopoulos: "More superdelegates will come out today for Barack Obama -- they will come three, four, five at a time, and this nomination will be locked up."

Rick Klein: "The question that is now astoundingly close to being the most urgent one in the presidential race: Does Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton see a distinction between the good of the Clintons, the good of the Democratic Party, and the good of the country?"

Ben Smith: "The campaign goes on, but the chatter today has already begun on the truce Obama appeared to offer Clinton last night with his conciliatory, forward-looking speech, and whether Clinton will more or less embrace it. There's no imperative that she actually drop out, but it now becomes hard for her to sustain a full-out, combative campaign -- to stay on offense, and to raise the money it takes to do so."

Walter Shapiro: "Tuesday night was likely Clinton's last major window of opportunity in this race -- and despite her game face and spirited spin, she undoubtedly knows that it all but slammed on her fingers."

Thomas Edsall: "In the universe of political clichés, she is on life support, her oxygen choked off, her knees buckling, unable to stanch the bleeding, down for an eight count, on the ropes, praying for the bell to ring, desperate to get her wind back."

If anything, last night was probably good news for John McCain because it's now nearly a sure thing that Barack Obama will be the nominee, and he's shown that he has a glass jaw and lots of things that can be thrown at him in the fall. The Democrats chose flash over substance and that's going to give them problems in the coming campaign.

And this article should give the Dems some heartburn. I don't think their party has come to grips with the reality that many voters in their own party will not vote for a black candidate for president.