Hillary Clinton: On why she's still in it

Earlier today Hillary Clinton made what can only be described as a bizarre rationalization for staying in a primary race that she’s already lost:

My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California.

Almost immediately, Clinton clarified her remark, saying that she was merely pointing out a "historic fact" and that:

The Kennedys have been much on my mind the last days because of Senator Kennedy.  I regret that if my referencing that moment of trauma for our entire nation and in particular the Kennedy family was in any way offensive. I certainly had no intention of that whatsoever.

But this isn’t the first time she has made this same, offensive comparison.  In March of this year:

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.

Once might be a mistake, twice and it’s a tactic.  An offensive, ugly tactic from a failed campaign whose only hope is to raise the possibility that something might happen to Obama.  The willingness to say such a thing in a cheap effort to sway superdelegates is disgusting.

Across the blogosphere, Clinton is being roundly condemned:

Paddy at The Political Carnival:

Done. I'm done with her.

In an update at MyDD, Josh Orton is saying:

it's clear that Clinton is not in any way calling directly for something to happen to Obama. But we also cannot divorce her comments from her public stature, her intelligence, her responsibility as a leader, or our history. So even with the most charitable interpretation, I think her negligence is disqualifying

Booman:

Perhaps she merely meant to refer to the June part of the situation, as she claims, but we already have a candidate that has won the majority of the earned delegates. He will be our nominee unless there is a compelling reason to choose someone else. If that happens, Clinton already has the strongest claim to be his replacement and further campaigning only undermines her chances of winning over Obama's delegates. As she travels the country on her Insult Your Intelligence Tour she is bound to continue to give offense.

Oliver Willis:

She is fracking crazy....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.

liza at culturekitchen:

Shameless.

Despicable.

Unfit to be President Of The United States.

Brad at Sadly, No!:

OK, I've defended Hillary against sexism. I can't defend her against charges of being completely tasteless ....I got nothin' to add to this. Wow.