The end is near for Clinton

She needed to beat Sen. Barack Obama in North Carolina. She didn't.

She needed a decisive victory in Indiana. She squeaked by.

Her campaign is running out of money and she loaned herself $6.4 million last month. Not a good sign.

For Sen. Hillary Clinton, her White House ambitions are fast fading, and there isn't much she can do.

With the remaining contests offering a total of 217 delegates, and Obama picking up more superdelegates than her, Clinton is hoping - praying - that some cataclysmic happens that will get them to switch.

It was sad watching her supporter, Lanny Davis, saying the new number to win the nomination is 2,209. That's what her campaign has been pushing by including Florida and Michigan.

I had to remind Lanny that the DNC makes that decision, and right now, it's 2-0-2-5.

He didn't like it.

Clinton's campaign is clinging to anything that keeps them in the game.

But folks, barring an earth shattering event, it's over.

Her focus now is to bow out gracefully. Anything less damages the party in November.

Surely that isn't what she or her supporters want, right?

Roland S. Martin www.rolandsmartin.com CNN Contributor

Sent from Blackberry

Comments

[D'Anne]

I felt sad for Laney, he just looked so pitiful last night. But, my sympathy ended quickly when he started whining. Regardless if the superdelegates can vote and give the nomination to Sen. Clinton, she must know that would never happen because the superdelegates aren't stupid. If they don't THINK they can win with Obama, well they must know that they WILL NOT win if they don't do the right thing. Obama supporters, esp. many of his Black supporters would be too outraged.

[BYoung]

Off topic: I'm curious if Tavis is going to follow her to her political grave. I guess we'll find out tomorrow.

[nic]

People, please...be careful.
It is not over.
A) We haven't won 2,025 delegates yet...
B) Even if we had, recent history should've taught us all that simply winning an election (or a series of elections) is not enough.

This is NOT a democracy. Look at Al Gore, for example. He WON the 2000 election, and they still wouldn't allow him to be President...and he's WHITE, for god's sake.

It won't be OVER until she drops out, and she won't. Last night she said, "it's full-speed ahead to the White House." She must know something we don't...

Please, people, remember that we live in a racist society. They WILL find a way to discount at least some of our votes (i.e., last night I listened to a potential argument she might use, discounting caucus numbers and focusing on the primaries - effectively voiding my vote - I live in Washington).

At the very least, consider that we do not need to gloat, or pretend we've won anything yet...we haven't.

I'm optimistic, but skeptical...I don't really think THEY (the powers-that-be) will allow a Black President just yet...

[Heather Johnston]

She'll either drop out or destroy herself trying to win a nomination already won by Obama. I'm hoping for a graceful exit, as that would be best for the party, and frankly my nerves, I'm tired of this already. George McGovern, a long time supporter, switched his support to Obama today, though he said kind words about Clinton. Even Donna Brazile called her a fabulous candidate, but it is time for a Clinton to learn how to lose with dignity.

As many party elders as are able should follow McGovern's lead. But recognize, there is such a thing as loyalty, and those she's worked with closely would look weak and pandering to switch now. (NY superdelegates are with her, even as they know she can't win and that Obama will make a great president.) As long as she makes this fairly quick, she can regain some of her status with some Obama supporters, SOME being the operative word.

[Wren Gray]

Again Im asking people to get the book "DAY OF DECPTION" by John Hagee and read the first part of the book...this man using PUBLIC documented information have put together a disturbing report on Ms Clinton's life as the first lady...READ IT...and tell me if thats the kind of person you want leading the USA

[Wren Gray]

Again Im asking people to get the book "DAY OF DECPTION" by John Hagee and read the first part of the book...this man using PUBLIC documented information have put together a disturbing report on Ms Clinton's life as the first lady...READ IT...and tell me if thats the kind of person you want leading the USA

[Jody Gaddy]

Obama will win the general election to become your president for the next 8 years. Nothing will stop him now even if all self-haters are against him.

The era of self-hate is over. Self-hates and Black haters such Andrew Young, Tavis, Obasanjo, etc should prepare for the era of Black pride.

[Pamela]

I agree with you Nic...I'm optimistic but skeptical!

If she were not trying to damage the democratic party then neither she, Bill, nor her surrogates would have deployed the race baiting tactics that they did in order to appeal to the ugliest part of a person's humanity.

She has lost my respect as a candidate and as a person because she chose to not only ignite racial tensions but continues to fuel it by placing value on those in our society who are racist.

The black community will never again believe that the Clinton's are above that level of disgusting behavior(if we ever truly did).

We live in a white dominated society that continues to treat black people as if we are not a significant part of America. That is a sad testament for American society considering that there would be no America if it weren't for black people!

[Carolyn]

I find that Hillary's supporters have their mind set on her Presidency. None are listening to the fact that the rules committee will meet on May 31. Donna said that over and over last night and he did not hear her. On CNN this morning another Hillary supporter, repeated Lanny's drama, more than once. James Carville, Lanny Davis and others are angry and will not support or vote for Obama. Both are angry with him and may not like him. And do not care if the democrats get back in. None are doing or talking about the issues. Also tired of Hillary and Mccain calling him elistist, neither had to worry about food to eat and medical insurance. We must keep him lifted up in prayers.Because anyone who is that angry will do anything to get elected and do not care how it effects the party or others.

[BYoung]

Pamela,

Excellent, excellent points. I agree with your comments 110%. The Clintons resorted to biting the hand that fed them for so long and it has back fired. An yes America was built on the backs of slaves. That statement is fact and there is no way anyone one could dispute that.

[Nesia]

HillBill is crazy!! She is doing and saying everything to convince herself it's still possible. One of her staff members needs to call the Charter Hospital to have her admitted to the psyche ward.

[Veronica]

Hillary,
The crowd has gone home, the lights are being shut off, time for you to exit....STAGE LEFT!!!!

[simplycharming47]

I agree wholeheartedly with Jody Gaddy..
Although It will be a very long road to tow, I am confident in the end that the will of the people would have spoken thereby electing the next POTUS of America: Senator Barack H. Obama..

Yes We Can!!
Go Obama '08..

[Vanessa]

The end has been near for the Clinton campaign for several weeks before the Indiana and North Carolina primaries. It's all in the numbers. Thus far, the Clintons 'kitchen sink' strategy hasn't worked. It's not likely she'll drop out of the race; ahe's labeled herself 'fighter'. She must play this until the Covention.

[Raum Sandoval]

She needs to stay in through WV and KY just to make Obama look okay there. If she drops out and wins those two states, he looks silly.

Either way, its over. If we have to wait till May 20th (when Obama will have more than enough pledged delegates where its impossible for Hillary to win) or till June 5th, when its all said and done, its Obama's nomination.

I just hope Hillary just pushes herself and doesn't continue a negative campaign and tone towards Obama.

I also hope that the MI plan goes through, 69/59 works for me. Thats one less state that Hillary can talk about. Hell, give her FL too, Obama is sitting comfortable right now. Expect 15 more superdelegates by Saturday. The rest will probably just wait till May 20 and June 5 since they are obviously trying to stay safe or wait for Hillary to do the right thing on her own.

[Fletch]

I think that Hillary and Bill will be a TREMENDOUS asset to Obama's gen. election campaign. They are still the best known brand available in the democratic party, and would be great surrogates for Obama when it comes time to stave off the republican attack machine. That whole "fighter" persona would come in great handy to Obama. She often talks about how she is prepared to handle republican attacks well, it would be nice to see her stand beside Obama when they start to rev up this mess about his patriotism and "questionable associations". My only question is, how whole-heartedly will they get behind Barack. I mean, all this talk of a unified party has yet to be seen, and with the way she attacked him during the primary, its hard to see how she can now turn around and boast about his preparedness to be commander-in-chief. My fear is that she will fade to black rather than work vigorously to help make his campaign stronger (esp with her supporters that vow not to vote for him). We'll also see what John Edwards is all about once Obama finally locks this thing up.

[Indie Liberal]

Fletch,

Yes I remember the Clintons being a tremendous asset to past nominees alright. It has showed the last eight years. Sure, they did a lot to help Gore and Kerry. And yes, they campaigned for them but there was a lot of things done behind the scenes that proves that they were more of a tremendous asset to themselves rather than the Democratic party.

And I have a feeling they will undermine Obama just like they did with the last two nominees. Hope I am wrong, but this election has shown that the Clintons care more about themselves and being in power, rather than winning an election.

[simplycharming47]

Fletch said:
"I think that Hillary and Bill will be a TREMENDOUS asset to Obama's gen. election campaign. They are still the best known brand available in the democratic party, and would be great surrogates for Obama when it comes time to stave off the republican attack machine"

SAY WHAT???..The same Hillary Clinton who's willing to destroy the party singlehandedly by insisting on listening to nothing but THE VOICES INSIDE OF HER HEAD, knowing full well mathemathically she CANNOT WIN the DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION!!

She's still sink throwing..Just yesterday this hag in an interview with USA TODAY had the nerve to suggest that "White Americans are increasingly turning away from Barack Obama's candidacy" and that "there's a pattern emerging here" as to infer that no matter how much Senator Obama is blowing HER away in every possible statistic, inevitably becoming the Democratic Nominee for the Presidency "she has a much broader base to build a winning coalition on".. What?

In additon to that nonsense the woman had the gall to use a poll to try and substaniate her false claim that Obama's support among hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting her.".. SO WHAT!! Okay Hillary if you know that to be true why wouldnt you add, and if I'm not the nominee I will do all within my power and influence to change that unfortunate paradigm instead of in someway GLOATING!!!!.

In other words I'm WHITE and YOU'RE not, you cant WIN because NO WHITE HARD-WORKING AMERICANS WILL VOTE FOR YOU!! I cant even believe that she would even fix her mouth to say such nonsense when there's apparently overwhelming evidence to the contrary. It's no secret that African Americans are voting for Obama is huge numbers, but our vote alone is not the SOLE factor in him winning. It's taking All our votes to put him over. The same goes for "White Working blah, blah, blah people", Hillary cant win with them ALONE, especially now than ever with her demented self, it would take every black vote in America for her to win..
But I suppose in her mind (those damn voices again) the under 60 white vote, the Black vote, Latino, Asian, Native American vote and everything in between vote is-IRRELEVANT!!

Okay, Obama may not be getting large percentages from the white voters over 60, But he does extraordinarily well with whites 60 and under. So what is it that she's implying?.. This is just another desperate last ditched attempt on her part to play to the fears of people like herself and those all important superdelegates who cannot fathom the thought of possibly someone darker than themselves elected POTUS..

She's straight pandering and has no intentions of unifying the party with those kinds of divisive and in my opinion racist comments.

One other thing, this is what hubby Bill Clinton said about their "homie" John McCain.
"If Hillary Clinton and John McCain become their party's presidential nominees, the general election race is likely to be a love-fest".
At least according to Bill Clinton.

"She and John McCain are very close," Clinton said. "They always laugh that if they wound up being the nominees of their party, it would be the most civilized election in American history, and they're afraid they'd put the voters to sleep because they like and respect each other"

Well with all that kind of love-festing going on between them there's doesnt seem to be much chance of the Clinton's ripping apart that so-called "Republican Attack Machine" Obama '08

[april]

AMEN, simplycharming47!!!! trust and believe, the clintons have NO INTENTION of being surrogates for barack obama in the general election. they will try EVERYTHING in their power to align themselves with the republicans (their true party, regardless of WHAT their party affiliation of record is!) in a concerted effort to attempt to bring obama down. they will FAIL. don't think for ONE MINUTE that the obama people don't already know this. americans of ALL AGES, RACES, INCOMES, EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT STATUS, GENDER, SEXUAL ORIENTATION and whatever other way they want to categorise us will be VOTING BARACK OBAMA into the white house in november!! the CLINTONS, the MEDIA, and the "REPUBLICAN ATTACK MACHINE" be damned!!

this is a NEW DAY!!!

OBAMA '08!

[Indie Liberal]

Amen. Simplycharming47!

Hil and Bill know how to side with Bush Sr, Bush Jr, and McCain on a lot. From the war, gas tax to a manufactured Republican smear.

That's for sure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk1k0nUWEQg

Support Integrity and Open Government! Go Obama!!

[Indie Liberal]

"the clintons have NO INTENTION of being surrogates for barack obama in the general election."

April,

I think so too. They will do a little campaigning for him (while making behind the scenes deals to undermine the 08 nominee just like they did in 2000, 2004). The good news is that Obama can count on Sens. Kerry, Kennedy, McCaskill, Dodd, Casey, Govs Selebius, Napolitano, Richardson, and other good surrogates (some will come over soon) to help him get his message out. They will do more than the Clintons did in the last 8 years.

[Songbird, SC]

The Clinton's are going to do EVERYTHING to undermine Obama from here on out. I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up being McCain's running mate. LOL!

[Indie Liberal]

"The Clinton's are going to do EVERYTHING to undermine Obama from here on out. I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up being McCain's running mate. LOL!"

Songbird,

Yes they will. Just like they did in 2000 and 2004.

Hillary might as well be McCain's running mate. They make a good couple. LOL!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=dk1k0nUWEQg

[connie]

Hillary and Bill should be ashamed of themselves. I agree
that Hillary must know something that we don't know. Why
is she bullheadly staying in this race when the numbers are
clearly against her? What catasphophe could there be that
would change the course of this race??? Obama should not
consider her as his running mate. Such a hateful, stubborn
and race baiting person should not be a vice-president, at
least not HIS.