Putting A Marker Down ... Just In Case ....

Call me concerned ... Call me skeptical ...

I'll believe it when I see, and hear, it ...

Clinton to Publicly Withdraw, Support Obama

After a tumultuous 17-month journey, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) will formally withdraw as a presidential candidate today, publicly declaring her support for Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) for the first time since he secured the Democratic nomination.

She had the stage to do this earlier this week and simply ignored the reality, continuing to march forward.

Until she steps out there later today, a little more than a hour from now, says - in understandable, discernible, English - that she is ending (or suspending) her campaign, and directly, clearly endorses Barack Obama (and then, maybe, after a DNA test, to confirm it was the real Hillary Clinton), only then will I exhale.

As to moving ahead, it will remain to-be-seen, just how much support she puts out.

The media circus (and leave it to Hillary to require a media circus) that is gathering for this event today, the anticipation, the hype, all the stories about her still-seething supporters, adds up to a possible classic Clintonean double-back, hold-the-phone, I've-re-evaluated-the-situation, I-won-the-popular-vote, I'm-still-in-it kind-of move.

Holy Chaotic Convention, Batman ...

Stay Tuned, Bat Fans!


Bonus Hillary Links

Barry Crimmins: 18 million hostages?

The Most Fabulous Object In The World

Top Ten Cloves: Other Ways Hillary Clinton Can Ignore She Lost Primary Race

Made It Ma, Top of the Campaign! ...

Made It Ma, Top of the Campaign! ...

Or, Hillary Clinton's Cody Jarrett Moment

My, My, My ...

The theatrics, the anguish, it's taking to end this thing

The Most Fabulous Object In The World (TMFOITW), according to the breaking news over the past few hours, has, finally, popped her head out of her own bubble and caught a scent of the unrelenting condemnation she was receiving today, and will (we still have to wait-and-see) end her campaign on Friday and Saturday.

The WWW and Blogosphere was lit up like a Christmas tree, virtually since "The Speech" last evening.






















Even the staunchest of TMFOITW supporters were bucking against her.

Now, there can be some validity to the whole notion of you can't stop a freight train on a dime, that TMFOITW couldn't put the brakes on, on a moments notice, but that does little to luminate her actions, when applied to what Hillary did last evening.

She allowed (granted, it may have been improvised, but, either way, it was specious) the campaign's mouth-that-roared, Terry McAuliffe, to introduce her as "The next President of the United States" and than TMFOITW proceeded to give, essentially, another stump speech, completely ignoring the history of the evening, of Barack Obama going over the number of won delegates to secure the nomination.

She then proceeded to egg on, to lead on, her supporters, offering no concession, no surrender, no acknowledgment that she lost the fight, ending with encouraging people to come to her website and tell her, share with her, what she should do next.

How's this for the history that was ignored by TMFOITW;

Will Bunch's Attytood - People died so tonight could happen

This is just to say how remarkable it is that a man who wasn't even guaranteed the right to vote when he was born is now the Democratic nominee for the White House -- and to say thank you to the people who fought and who even gave their lives to make this moment happen.

Keith Olbermann reported this evening that, it was only after two conference calls, one from 23 members of Congress, the other from 8 in the Senate - and that members, advisors of TMFOITW reached out to these people, imploring them to talk to her - that this outcome was arrived at.

Apparently it wasn't enough to know that Obama had won the most delegates, TMFOITW had to hear, from her colleagues, that they were not going to stand by and aid or abet TMFOITW in her attempt to hijack the nomination.

Clinton to Suspend Campaign, Endorse Obama Friday

The news that Mrs. Clinton was ending her campaign was first reported by ABCNEWS.com

“We pledged to support her to the end,” Representative Charles B. Rangel, a New York Democrat who has been a patron of Mrs. Clinton since she first ran for the Senate, said in an interview “Our problem is not being able to determine when the hell the end is.”

WOW!

The Clintonistas, particularly, Lisa Caputo, was out this evening, still banging the TMFOITW drum, explaining away her actions and behavior as no big deal, as if it we perfectly a normal occurance to have a candidate ignore the fact that they lost the election (well, there is Mini-Me., Joe Lieberman).

As many have already stated, Hillary Clinton's loss in this contest isn't the end of woman running for high office, it is, by all rights, just the beginning.

The sky isn't going to fall in if TMFOITW doesn't become president this year.

Hillary had the choice to be placed in history as a pioneering trailblazer, or a sore, delusional loser.

She'll likely attain the former, but with the latter as a footnote.

"Made It Ma, Top of the Campaign! ..."

So, a few more days of drama, more fodder for the cable news bobbleheads and then, hopefully, it's full speed ahead to the General Election.

And Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain.


Bonus Fat Lady Warming Up To Sing Links

Wonkette: Hillary To Concede By Friday, For Real

David Kurtz: The End?

John Cole: Tone Deaf Until The End

Libby: I was going to call her Virtuous - Updated

Wolcott: Nixon in a pantsuit


Bonus Bonus

James Cagney in White Heat - Top of the World




Watch The Entire Movie - White Heat (108 min)

Top Ten Cloves: Other Ways Hillary Clinton Can Ignore She Lost Primary Race

News Item: In Defeat, Clinton Graciously Pretends to Win

10. Go around with her fingers in her ears, shouting out "Na, Na, Na, Na Na" ... "I can't hear you" ... "Na, Na, Na, Na Na"

9. Spend the days ahead sending messages, to herself, that "Hillary Won" on HillaryClinton.Com

8. Start parsing the word "lost", being, "It depends on what the meaning of the word 'lost' is"

7. Could have husband and daughter led her around, blindfolded, and wearing earplugs

6. Clarify her statement "anything can happen" to include, "Except her losing the primary to Obama"

5. Listen, and listen only to Terry McAuliffe and Lanny Davis

4. Keep baselessly claiming, she's won the popular vote, she's won more states, she's won the swing states, she's won ...

3. Install, in her home and office, one of those gameshow soundproof booths

2. Dodge the news that she lost, the same way she dodged all that sniper fire

1. Cry and throw a crying tantrum until Barack Obama, and the DNC, say "Okay, we'll let you win it"


Bonus "It's Not How You Play The Game, But How You Lose" Links

Anonymous Liberal: Clinton's Classless Speech

Michael Crowley: In the Clinton Bunker

Noam Scheiber: That Outrageous, Delusional Clinton Speech

Andrew Sullivan: The Clintons Threaten

Chris Cillizza: What Went Wrong for Clinton?

Better Than Any Last Second, Heroic Shot, Goal or Touchdown - Or Hillary Claim ... By A Mile!

Boy, I needed a "pick-me-up" today.

Aside from things on the homefront, we had all the delusional Clintonistas, in their best Grand Central Station Locker Creatures (from the Movie "Men In Black), making the cable news rounds with all their unbridled enthusiasm, ("Hillary is back! The keeper of the light! All hail Hillary! All hail Hillary! Oh Hillary can you see by the dawn's early light..."), still trying to sell the "Hillary's winning the popular vote! ... It's the popular vote that should count! ..."

And, The Most Fabulous Object In The World, herself, conducted the delusion, fanning it more, giving it wings;

Hillary's latest lie: I've won more states than Obama... if you don't count 38 of the 50 states

“I’ve been closing very strongly since Feb. 20,” she said, referring to the day after Mr. Obama won Hawaii and Wisconsin. “I have won more votes and won more states than Senator Obama. All the independent analyses break in my direction. A lot of the key states that we have to win, I win those states.”

Which Kos sets straight, noting the facts - "Obama has won 32 states (including the Texas caucuses) plus DC. Clinton has won 19 (including the Texas primary). Now of course, Clinton is using a little sleigh of hand to disenfranchise the states that voted before February 20. That's 37 states."

Help Me Mr. Wizard!

Well, Mister Wizard came through, for which we H/T Barry Crimmins for delivering this nothing-but-major-cool-feel-good-story (and I'm kickin' myself I missed this, as it occurred just over a month ago);

'Unbelievable' sportsmanship in softball game; CWU players carry WOU player around bases after knee injury following HR

PORTLAND, Ore. - With two runners on base and a strike against her, Sara Tucholsky of Western Oregon University uncorked her best swing and did something she had never done, in high school or college. Her first home run cleared the center-field fence.

But it appeared to be the shortest of dreams come true when she missed first base, started back to tag it and collapsed with a knee injury.

She crawled back to first but could do no more. The first-base coach said she would be called out if her teammates tried to help her. Or, the umpire said, a pinch runner could be called in, and the homer would count as a single.

Then, members of the Central Washington University softball team stunned spectators by carrying Tucholsky around the bases Saturday so the three-run homer would count — an act that contributed to their own elimination from the playoffs.

You can read Barry's post - Title IX... Title IX... Title IX - to connect the dots.

And while you do, listen to the legendary Bob Dorough, and his classic rendition of "Better Than Anything", to add another layer to the buzz.

The Most Fabulous Object In The World

Not too many have noticed, as it has been going on for some time.

And, no doubt, following yesterday's Rule and Bylaw Committee resolution to the Florida-Michigan kurfluffle, we'll continue to get more, likely amped up louder, more forceful, more desperate.

What are we talking about?

Only that Hillary Clinton is "The Most Fabulous Object In The World".

Hillary, and her band of Clintonista's, have embraced the Terry Gilliam film, "Time Bandits", claiming they have the map (and only they have it) that shows Hillary to be "The Most Fabulous Object In The World"

Here was Hillary, just a few days ago, writing to the Superdelegates;

Recent polls and election results show a clear trend: I am ahead in states that have been critical to victory in the past two elections. From Ohio, to Pennsylvania, to West Virginia and beyond, the results of recent primaries in battleground states show that I have strong support from the regions and demographics Democrats need to take back the White House. I am also currently ahead of Senator McCain in Gallup national tracking polls, while Senator Obama is behind him. And nearly all independent analyses show that I am in a stronger position to win the Electoral College, primarily because I lead Senator McCain in Florida and Ohio. I’ve enclosed a detailed analysis of recent electoral and polling information, and I hope you will take some time to review it carefully.

In addition, when the primaries are finished, I expect to lead in the popular vote and in delegates earned through primaries. Ultimately, the point of our primary process is to pick our strongest nominee – the one who would be the best President and Commander in Chief, who has the greatest support from members of our party, and who is most likely to win in November. So I hope you will consider not just the strength of the coalition backing me, but also that more people will have cast their votes for me.

Want more?

Here was Lanny Davis (still crying), writing in the Wall Street Journal, just yesterday (and, never mind about the irony of appealing for support via the Ruppert Murdoch-owned media);

First, Sen. Clinton is more experienced and qualified to be president than is Sen. Obama. This is not to say Sen. Obama cannot be a good, even great, president. I believe he can. But Sen. Clinton spent eight years in the White House. She was not a traditional first lady. She was involved in policy and debate on virtually every major domestic and foreign policy decision of the Clinton presidency, both "in" and "outside" the room with her husband. She has been a U.S. senator for eight years and has a record of legislative accomplishments, including as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee ...

Third and finally, there is recent hard data showing that, at least at the present time, Sen. Clinton is a significantly stronger candidate against Sen. McCain among the general electorate (as distinguished from the more liberal Democratic primary and caucus electorate).

Davis even, after the committee meeting last evening, roamed the hotel's hallways, ranting to anyone that would listen to him how Hillary Clinton is "The Most Fabulous Object In The World".

(And we can't ignore Davis's uncontrollable sobbing earlier last week)

And, in the Prophetic Department...

More?

We have Hillary tossing around assassination manhole covers (and her cronies playing out that she's the victim), and her husband, intimating the biggest mystery since The 39 Steps, that there's a conspiracy to deny Hillary the nomination.

"I can't believe it. It is just frantic the way they are trying to push and pressure and bully all these superdelegates to come out," Clinton said at a South Dakota campaign stop Sunday, in remarks first reported by ABC News.

Clinton also suggested that some were trying to "cover up" Hillary Clinton's chances of winning in key states that Democrats will have to win in the general election.

" 'Oh, this is so terrible: The people they want her. Oh, this is so terrible: She is winning the general election, and he is not. Oh, my goodness, we have to cover this up.' "

Clinton did not expound on who he was accusing.

"The Most Fabulous Object In The World".

Ahh, but we know, from Time Bandits, that "The Most Fabulous Object In The World" was just a ruse, to lure one into the Fortress of Ultimate Darkness, where Evil resided.

Does Hillary, and her band of Clintonistas follow the map all the way?

Does this all end up in the Fortress of Ultimate Darkness?

Well, "the drinking-from--the-Lanny-Davis-cup" Harold Ickes intimated that in the RBC meeting, bitterly (another irony) chastising his fellow board members for tossing Hillary overboard, saying he was "empowered by Mrs. Clinton" to reserve their right to continue claiming Hillary is "The Most Fabulous Object In The World" to the Credentials Committee.

Here's the video of it.



Based on what went down yesterday, with the RBC clearly indicating they don't want to go near the Ultimate Fortress of Darkness, it's likely, the Credential Committee will give Ickes an Ickes-like thrashing right back;

Did Hillary campaign with the sceptre of entitlement, underestimating Obama, and all other candidates?

You bet your ass she did ...

Did Hillary lose this primary fight?

You bet your ass she did ...

Is Hillary attempting to hijack the nomination now?

You bet your ass she is ...

The Clintons are quickly becoming Willie Mays, with the Mets, or Joe Louis, opening doors in Las Vegas.

Relics of the past, of better days, a sad memory jolt, of when once, they were on top.

The Dems, to stay in the Time Bandits motif, are going with the Supreme Being, the antidote, the protector, the one standing up against the Ultimate Fortress of Darkness.

Hillary, complete with her band of Clintonistas, marched into the Primary Campaign, boosting of entitlement and inevitability, of just showing up, of Hillary being "The Most Fabulous Object In The World", setting their campaign strategy up to Super Tuesday, when, the following day, the coronation would take place.

Hillary campaigned to win an election

Obama, meanwhile, dug down, from the roots, setting himself up across the land, building support from the ground, up.

Obama campaigned to win the Primary, to win delegates.

And there lies the difference.

From the U.K. Telegraph;

Dee Dee Myers, the former press secretary to President Clinton, said: “It seems clear to me from watching her, and talking to people, that she doesn’t really know what she wants.” But after 17 months of campaigning, and $150 million (£76 million) spent, the question that haunts the Clinton camp is: how did someone who a year ago had unrivalled name recognition, a legendary campaign organisation and more money than her opponent contrive to throw it all away?

The answers come down to wrong message, wrong tactics, complacency, character – and, ultimately, the opponent. Even Clinton aides agree that she wrongly sold herself as a candidate of experience, when voters yearned for Barack Obama’s message of change. Her campaign machine then failed to win January’s crucial opening Iowa caucuses, handing lethal momentum to Mr Obama.

Her staff mistakenly believed they could knock her rival out by “Super Tuesday” on February 5, when 22 states voted. When that did not happen, she had neither the resources nor the organisation to compete in the succession of caucuses that followed, allowing Mr Obama to build the delegate lead he maintains to this day.

Closing out with 'Time Bandits', if Hillary is "The Most Fabulous Object In The World", then John McCain is the smoldering, dead piece of Evil, sitting in the toaster oven.

Best advise we can offer at this point is, stay away from the toaster oven, the Evil, Obama, it will implode, soon enough, all on its' own.


Bonus Links

Today's Must Read: Al Giordano's "Damn you, Barack Obama" ... It Lays Out What We Are Seeing Now

Three "Must Reads" From Al Giordano

CSI Hillary RFK Gaffe

Wolcott: Nixon in a pantsuit

What About On Day Two?

CSI Hillary RFK Gaffe

Emptywheel, over on Firedoglake, has a most interesting post today, a breakdown on how the "scoop" of Hillary Clinton's RFK Gaffe came to be.

No, not the classic, reporter-rushing-into-city-room, all breathless, and then an explosion of reporters flooding the scene, all yelling "Get me rewrite!".

No, not even any shoe-leather was applied.

In fact, as Emptywheel notes, the reporters covering Hillary that day were completely out-of-the-loop, as was the ground-zero, Argus Leader;

So: the NY Post to Drudge to the editors to the reporters actually "traveling" with Hillary ...

Whether or not it was Aravosis or Drudge who decided this comment had to be a story (nice company, Aravosis), it was, at last according to both Aravosis' account, some random guy reading the news who did so--he told them they might have a big scoop. And, ultimately, it was a newspaper reporter watching the live feed of an interview from someplace comfortable who first reported the comments--it was neither the press corp reporters who were traveling "with" Hillary nor editors of the Argus-Leader with whom Hillary was meeting.

The Politico is pouring out its' heart, bemoaning that the scoop wasn't a SCOOP ...

Go read Emptywheel's "A Return to Zapruder in the Live-Stream World", it's a good one ...


Meanwhile ...

Hillary is spending time on the reverse treadmill, wearing belt, with digging tools hanging from it, so she can shovel her way out of this incredible faux paus.

In an article in the New York Daily News, with the headline of "Hillary: Why I continue to run", Hillary is all Mea culpa city, to a certain extent, and back on her soapbox, spinning her unique brand of electoral math, and, of course, gaffe aside, she's still the best candidate out there;

I am running because I still believe I can win on the merits. Because, with our economy in crisis, our nation at war, the stakes have never been higher - and the need for real leadership has never been greater - and I believe I can provide that leadership.

Finally, I am running because I believe I'm the strongest candidate to stand toe-to-toe with Sen. McCain. Delegate math might be complicated - but electoral math is not. Our campaign is winning the popular vote - and we've been winning the swing states we need to get 270 electoral votes and take back the White House: Pennsylvania, Ohio, Arkansas, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, Michigan, Florida and West Virginia.

Little Hillary, er, we mean Georgie Stephanopoulous, to the rescue!

And running interference for her, to make sure she has a clear path, gaffe behind her, completely forgotten, was Little Hillary, er, we mean Georgie Stephanopoulous.

While the bigger news coming out of This Week, With George Stephanopoulos was his interview with Turd Blossom, Karl Rove, and Rove stammering and babbling a non-denial denial of his involvement in the Siegalman Case, Little Hillary, er, I mean Georgie, jumped all over Obama Campaign Manager David Axelrod, regarding Hillary's RFK gaffe.

Little Hillary, er, I mean Georgie, pressed, virtually badgering Axelrod, seeking a commitment that the Obama Campaign wasn't going to bash Hillary over her RFK gaffe, repeating himself, repeated asking if the Obama people sent out Keith Olbermann's Special Comment on Hillary's RFK gaffe.

It was embarrassing ... Little Hillary, er, I mean Georgie, seemingly was uninterested in any other campaign news, other then getting Axelrod to say they would leave Hillary alone.

This ABC News post doesn't do justice to the mugging, not even mentioning, other then the show title, Little Hillary, er, we mean Georgie.


And, in the Sour Grapes Department today ...

The Former President;

"Clinton also spoke against bullying superdelegates to make up their minds, saying, "I cant believe it. It is just frantic the way they are trying to push and pressure and bully all these superdelegates to come out. 'Oh, this is so terrible: The people they want her. Oh, this is so terrible: She is winning the general election, and he is not. Oh my goodness, we have to cover this up.'"

"She is winning the general election today and he is not, according to all the evidence," Clinton said. "And I have never seen anything like it. I have never seen a candidate treated so disrespectfully just for running. Her only position was, "Look, if I lose I'll be a good team player. We will all try to win but let's let everybody vote and count every vote.'"

Well, they got a lesson on running a primary campaign, so I suppose, they'll need some extra instruction on losing, with a little class.

Roughly two-weeks left ... If we are lucky ...


Bonus Links

Boy, And We Thought Russert and Williams Sucked

She Was The One She Was Waiting For!

"Oh ... THAT Conspiracy ..."

Three "Must Reads" From Al Giordano

She Was The One She Was Waiting For!

It occurred to me, after our post last evening ("Back, and to the Left ... Back, and to the Left") the implosion of Hillary Clinton, the incredible irony of it all.

By her own, twisted, dark, logic/strategy, in context to her decision to stay in the primary race (a race she has been losing since Super Tuesday, and, just this past week, it became all-but-officially lost), related to waiting around for "something to happen" to/with Barack Obama, she reached into that rather large Clintonean Bag of Tricks, and brought up the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.

As it has played out, universal condemnation has followed, and, to borrow from the Obama Campaign;

She Was The One She Was Waiting For!

How incredibly ironic ...

Amazing self-destruction, from the person who was, self-admitted, ready on Day One...

The shoddy, lazy, error-filled campaign Hillary conducted will be buried, a number of paragraphs down, when the history of this primary season is written.

We already posted the "Nixon In A Pantsuit" thing, so, if, in time, she does recover, it will be written as a "Nixonian" rise back into the game.

If Hillary was looking to take off the front pages her screaming banshee, "Give Me Michigan and Florida, or Give Me Death", well, she sure achieved that goal.

If Hillary was looking to prime the Rules Committee, before the meeting next week, whipping her supporters into a frenzy ... Err, not very likely she achieved that one (though, we can't rule out that she will use this self-inflicted wound to beat the "Everyone's picking on me" drum - again).

No, in a big-bowed basket of irony, Hillary, inserting foot firmly in mouth, ended up to be the "something happening", and "the reason to wait around".

She Was The One She Was Waiting For !


From the territory and borders around Hillaryland

Karen Timulty, of Time Magazine points out that this has been a pattern of Hillary's, going back to March;

TIME: Can you envision a point at which--if the race stays this close--Democratic Party elders would step in and say, "This is now hurting the party and whoever will be the nominee in the fall"?

CLINTON: No, I really can't. I think people have short memories. Primary contests used to last a lot longer. We all remember the great tragedy of Bobby Kennedy being assassinated in June in L.A. My husband didn't wrap up the nomination in 1992 until June. Having a primary contest go through June is nothing particularly unusual.

Trex has an option for you;

Well, we could talk about how Hillary is now openly incorporating the possibility of an assassin’s bullet into her plans for this whole nomination deal until our heads explode.

Or we could watch this adorable video of a hedgehog eating a carrot.

From The Mahablog;

Clinton supporters are whining that people are picking on poor Hillary again, making a Big Deal out of an innocent remark. These are the same people who won’t let go of Obama’s “bitter” remark, which some argue was taken out of context. I say live by the gotcha, die (metaphorically speaking) by the gotcha.

Quoting the Rude One: “To Clinton’s campaign and its supporters, who have been holding out for some gaffe by Obama that would take him down: How’s that working out for ya?”

Andrew Sullivan;

She's been waiting for Obama to implode. Instead, she just has.

The Anonymous Liberal;

Hillary is very smart and has pretty good political instincts. She'd no doubt run a competent general election campaign. But I think Obama has demonstrated during this grueling one and half year primary campaign that he is every bit her equal when it comes to raw political skill, and his campaign has out-smarted and out-maneuvered hers at every step. When you combine that with Obama's far superior rhetorical gifts and fundraising potential, it's hard to see why people still think Clinton would be the more formidable general election candidate.

Oliver Willis;

Seriously, who says this sort of thing? Your average person doesn’t say it, let alone somebody running for president. Hillary Clinton didn’t lose this race because she was a victim of sexism. She lost this race because people are tired of her clawing for power and running over everything to do it.

Three "Must Reads" From Al Giordano

This, actually, is a rewrite of something I put together yesterday morning.

The rewrite necessary after Hillary's magnificent, tremendous, gigantic gaffe.

When I awoke on Friday AM, the blogosphere was tsunami-flooded with stories and posts about "Hillary as VP" and "Camps Talking" (you can look Here, Here and Here for a sampling).

I read a bevy of these, the regular big-and-small blogs, the MSM articles and not a one referenced the scoop that Al Giordano had published - on Thursday;

“The Nightmare Ticket Is Dead”

The Field can now confirm, based on multiple sources, something that both campaigns publicly deny: that Senator Clinton has directly told Senator Obama that she wants to be his vice presidential nominee, and that Senator Obama politely but straightforwardly and irrevocably said “no.” Obama is going to pick his own running mate based on his own criteria and vetting process.

So now, when the Clinton surrogates continue to advocate that Obama choose Senator Clinton as veep, everybody will know: It’s Bill, and not Hill, stoking the fire. When New York political insider Mark Green’s Air America sent an email blast this morning to its entire mailing list featuring the milquetoast, boring and Arbitron-ratings neglected Thom Hartmann’s plea - “Obama: Ask Hillary First” (and this Air America subscriber summarily unsubscribed from that list this morning upon receiving that piece of corporate-paid advertising), everybody knows: the ventriloquist behind these Muppets is Bill Clinton.

A lot of people took a lot of sips from the Clinton Kool-Aid, pushing and hawking this "dream ticket"

Not Al, as you can see.

Now, it is my speculation, that, even before the Hillary foot-in-mouth RFK gaffe, it was the absolute longest of possibilities that Barack Obama would select Hillary as his running mate.

Really, we're talking here the "If Barack and Hillary were the only two people left on earth, he would still pause and think very hard and long on it" kind of chances.

I have to imagine, if Hillary's name was on some kind of list in the Obama camp, long or short, there's a line running through it this morning, and, after the next print-out of it, the name "Hillary" will not even appear on it.

And the news gets grimmer for Camp Clinton.

“The Cardoza 40″: Exodus of Clinton Delegates Begins"

The Field has learned that Cardoza is the first of a group of at least 40 Clinton delegates, many of them from California, that through talking among themselves came to a joint decision that all of them would vote for Obama at the convention. They have informed Senator Clinton that it’s time to unite around Obama, and that they will be coming out, one or two at a time, and announcing their switch between now and the convention if Senator Clinton doesn’t do the same.

Ouch!

There's a breach in the dike and, on top of not winning new delegates, she's losing the one's she already had!

Finally, for a breakdown of the Superdelegates, check out Al's "Undeclared Superdelegates: The Gang of 165 (+ 32 in Limbo)"

All of the Cardoza 40 should, now, just come over to Obama, en masse.

There's no need for subtlety, no need to position it.

It's over.