In a rather interesting article from the NYT website, it appears the Clinton camp is winding down, and they are admitting, at least privately, that they have lost. (the title in this diary is the one being used on HuffPost)
[D]espite the fireworks, Mrs. Clinton’s associates said she seemed to have come to terms over the last week with the near certainty that she would not win the nomination, even as she continued to assert, with what one associate described as subdued resignation, that the Democrats are making a mistake in sending Mr. Obama up against Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee.
Continued over the bump.
For those who are worried that she will take it to convention, it appears that she's not really as willing to do that as Ickes suggested yesterday because she realizes whatever harm she may succeed in doing to Obama, she'll probably hurt her own standing even more:
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.
[snip]
Assuming Mr. Obama reaches the number of delegates and superdelegates he needs to secure the nomination in the coming week, Mrs. Clinton will be faced with three options, associates said: to suspend her campaign and endorse Mr. Obama; to suspend her campaign without making an endorsement; or to press the fight through the convention. Several of Mrs. Clinton’s associates said it was unlikely she would fight through the convention, given the potential damage it would do to her standing in the party, which is increasingly eager to unify and turn to the battle against Mr. McCain.
Chris Matthews was just talking on his Sunday show about how it's time for Obama to start defining himself. Unfortunately, with all of the positives that come with a long primary, there is the negative in that Obama has no had the chance to really introduce himself to those people who are just starting to pay attention. Indeed, even some of the people who have been paying attention all of this time don't really know who he is or what he stands for. Obama is also missing the chance to define McCain (people really don't know the "real" McCain either and by being forced to pretend he's still in a contested primary, Obama hasn't been able to go after him as much as he would like).
If she doesn't have the grace to step down on her own, looks like her supporters and staff will do it for her:
Mrs. Clinton would almost surely face the defection of some of her highest-profile supporters, as well as some members of her staff. She would no doubt also face anger from Democratic leaders.
I guess with the wind down, logic is beginning to creep back into the Clinton camp:
Similarly, Mrs. Clinton and her aides have all but stopped their attacks on Mr. Obama, and the once vigorous Clinton war room has gone into a slumber.
Indeed, the talk in Mrs. Clinton’s headquarters has turned from the primary to more mundane matters: the next job, whom Mr. Obama might hire from the Clinton campaign, and even where to go on vacation.
The question in the weeks ahead is the extent to which the bitterness between these two candidates, both historic figures, can be erased. Two associates who spoke to Mrs. Clinton said they had no doubt that she would campaign for Mr. Obama without ambivalence, whether or not they end up as a ticket, one of the big questions lingering.
One of Mrs. Clinton’s chief strategists, Howard Wolfson, hinted that she was not inclined to carry the battle to the convention.
"Our focus is on securing the nomination for ourselves in the near term," he said. "I don’t think anybody is looking toward the convention to end this process."
I seriously hope Obama doesn't hire ANYONE from that campaign, but there may be one or two hidden gems, if there are I have to wonder why those people weren't put out to be the faces of the campaign instead of those who were.
For those curious about the superdelegate activity. Clinton is pleading with people to stay on the fence until convention, meanwhile Obama is telling people to jump on the O-Train now instead of later.
Mr. Obama’s supporters have been hammering away at them, urging them to move quickly to his camp.
"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."
Of course, it's easier to be resigned to the fact that it's over when everyone is largely ignoring you:
Mr. Obama has already turned his campaign away from Mrs. Clinton to face Mr. McCain. Mrs. Clinton is barely mentioned by Mr. Obama anymore, and his schedule is now focused as much on general election battlegrounds as it is on the remaining primaries. Mr. Obama is planning to mark the final election night of this primary season in St. Paul.
"That’s where the Republican convention is going to be," said David Axelrod, the campaign’s chief strategist. "It seems like a good place to start the discussion about which direction we’re going to go as a country."
If Clinton can show through her actions that what was reported in this article is TRUE, I believe it will go a long way to uniting the party around Obama. I'm not interested in rubbing salt in an open wound, my biggest problem with the Clinton campaign has been its apparent disconnect with reality. The article does mention the latest dust-up with Trinity, but I think the church stuff will become less relevant as Obama is given more of an opportunity to introduce himself to the country and more people get to know him and what he's about.
While I am hopeful that this is true, and that she will put the interests of the Democratic Party and the COUNTRY ahead of her own.
~*~*~Note~*~*~ I am not saying what's in this article is the gospel truth, as I originally stated above, Clinton will have to show it's truth through her ACTIONS. Also, the article is from the New York Times, NOT a writer on the Huffington Post. I can understand the cynics, I merely want to believe that rationality is returning to the Clinton campaign, and they may be coming to the realization that dragging this out to convention will not be beneficial to their personal goals or the goals of the Democratic Party.