I think they should just let her keep going. She is doing no damage to obama, she will lose the nomination, and if she is forced out, her supporters may vote mccain or stay home. I say let it be for now and then force her out in june by having the rest of the superdelegates push obama over the top.

She should have the common sense and integrity to drop out now. Every moment she spends sitting at the table with Richard Mellon Scaife and Rupert Murdoch devising media attacks on Obama deter from what should be happening: a dialogue between the two front runners. All she is doing now is helping the republicans stock up on material for the general election. The hesitancy to push her out of the race by the dem leadership is the equivalent of kowtowing to Bush on all of his disasters.

I agree that it would be great if she just got out and left everyone alone. The only reason she is still in is because she feels entitled to the presidency. Hell, i wish she dropped out a month ago, when she clearly lost. However, i think forcing her out would be a bad idea. Having her in would probably cause less damage to obama and the democrats than forcing her out and having a large number of her supporters pout for the next eight months. Despite her relatively low popularity compared to obama, she has a lot of people in her corner and a lot of powerful backers. If even a small number of them stay home or defect, we might very well be talking about President McCain.

I think the damage she could do by staying in is negligible but the damage that could be done by forcing her out could sink the entire party in this election cycle. Let the primaries play out, let her continue to lose and by June they will have no arguments left. All that has to happen is a large number of superdelegates endorse obama, that pushes him over the 2024 he needs, and she will have no choice but to drop out (or stay in and be totally marginalized and insignificant).

Having a election run from June to November is long enough. The democratic candidate was picked right away in 2004 and it didn't help win the election.

Personally I think of her own choosing she should quit asap and give Obama a clear field.
But that won't happen, so I'll take the silver lining that goes with Clinton's dark cloud.

Democratic Voters are all fired up, and this is GOOD for November, as long as Clinton can convince her supporters to back Obama with the same enthusiasm.

One of the problems i have with forcing her out before the primaries are over is that it is a very undemocratic concept. Should anyone really be forced out of an election before it is over?

That's just it. Looks bad, and that's why Obama nimself invited her along for the ride just as long as she can hold on.
I think though that soon the out come is going to be quite obvious, even if she doesn't drop out. And I think they would actually strengthen Obama's position. If he can beat the Clintons at their own game, McSame outta be a cake walk.

I've just lost all patience with Hillary.

She seems determined to poison every well on her journey; to attempt to destroy Obama personally, but also to make her own potential departure from the race damaging and divisive. There will be no facade of her bowing out gracefully for the good of party and country, but a strategy to convince her supporters that they haven't lost, but been cheated.

Beautifully put.

Don't you think that is a bit of an overreaction though? We talk about this campaign being "too negative" but how is this any worse than any other election cycle or primary? They are all pretty brutal. Also the idea that she will never drop out is kind of weak too. How many times have you heard a candidate who is on their last leg say "we are not dropping out. We are going all the way!" I have heard it from just about every candidate in this primary season so far. Romney, Guli9/11ani, Richardson, Edwards, Huckabee. They all said it and look at where they are now.

I think these concerns are more punditry hype than anything else.

I disagree. The supporters are acting as they always do, but there's a real difference in how Hillary's actions that stray from the norm. The "liberal" left and progressives have unified and become galvanized in response to the right wing political machine. As an example, I've built the POAC as a response to Murdoch and the Scaifes and have spent every day of my life fighting against their assault on the collective consciousness of this country. I've defended the Clinton's from hundreds of lies that have been implanted into a large segment of the population's minds through their machine. ANd now Hillary has aligned themselves with those very same people who have made the word "liberal" a bad word. She's using thier machine and their tactics to tear down a democratic candidate. Let's put this in perspective:

A candidate that Rush Limbaugh is urging his listeners to cast votes for is sitting at a table with the funding father of the right-wing media machine tearing down the democratic frint-runner. A candidate that REPUBLICANS want to see in the general election is having lunch with Rupert Murdoch over the course of several months and is utilizing a right-wing tactic to smear anyone who doesn't support her as "chauvinist". She's harming the party and she doesn't give a damn about it.

Furthermore, she doesn't have to utilize the right wing machine. She could empower the progressive machine. But she's not interested in that. She wants the most effective, already built, proven and tested political machine that she can get her hands to to achieve her goals and who or what is and who or what it hurts means nothing to her.

Fortunately, Hillary is exposing herself as the republican democrat and Obama as the progressive and her poll numbers are reflecting that.

this part, we can all agree is true.




and she's STILL much more desirable than McSame!

Obama just invited Gore to his team

http://www.oldamericancentury.org/bb/index...c=19889&hl=

Clinton might quit in April. She's gettin no breaks, looks like even Pennsylvania might goBama, and she's running short on cash reserves. At some point even the most stubborn among us has to admit we lost.

she's been doing that since his appointment! It's hard to get a grasp unless you're a NYer.

I hear this from the Scar every morining (Joe Scarborough) but I keep wondering, where does the punditry really start?

It seems pundits want to compare this to general election back-stabbing, rather than pre-convention politics. Yeah, sometimes a primary opponent comes out with something to squash an opponent, but the real game starts once the general begins... As a psych major, I'm sure I'd love to see the fight, but as an american, I want to feel secure, and in tune with the ethical perspective of my Gvt.

The issues isn't "should she drop out?", the issue is "would it be right to force her out?" I think it is undemocratic and unamerican* to do so until after the primaries are over. We may not like who she is getting help from (republicans) and we may not like her positions but that doesn't mean she should not be allowed to run. After the primaries are over, the superdelegates pick up the ball and then it is ok to use their votes to push obama over the top, therefore forcing clinton out.





*Note:Term not being used according to republican definitions.

TJ, you better win your race, or I'm comming to Iowa to kick some ARSE!

Waiting to see who has a nervous breakdown first?

The only interesting thing i could see from a psychological prospective of this race (really the only thing still interesting about this primary fight) is the affect of being told "you're the greatest!", "you're going to be the next president!", can have on someone's perception of reality.

Indeed. Let's see how Obama handles his rock star status.
I have a feeling his wife and family do pretty well at keeping his feet on, or at least close to the ground.