Hillary Clinton’s campaign hasn’t given the slightest indication that she’s thinking about withdrawing from the race. No slow-down in the schedule, no anonymous leaks about heated discussions, no rumors about a graceful exit. Nothing. NBC’s Andrea Mitchell said on the “Today” show yesterday that Clinton is “ready to give up.” Given what we’ve seen over the last 24 hours, that doesn’t even appear close to true.
That said, the campaign is not blind to reality, and the NYT noted that some members of the Clinton team “acknowledged privately that they remained unsure about the future of her candidacy.”
Some top Clinton fund-raisers said that the campaign was all but over and suggested that she was simply buying time on Wednesday to determine if she could raise enough money and still win over superdelegates, the elected officials and party leaders who could essentially hand Mr. Obama the nomination. […]
One Clinton adviser said the campaign was struggling to arrange meetings with large numbers of uncommitted superdelegates. This adviser said that at least a few superdelegates might not want to meet with Mrs. Clinton because they did not want to hear another pitch or because they had all but decided to go with Mr. Obama.
Congressional Dem leaders indicated they were content to have the race continue, but “attacks on Mr. Obama by the Clinton campaign or its surrogates could lead to a leadership push for superdelegates to show their hand and bring the race to a close.”
Either way, though, Roll Call noted that a “quiet consensus” has emerged within the party that Obama will be the party’s nominee, a notion that even Clinton allies on the Hill were suddenly prepared to accept.
“It was a pretty gloomy mood this morning,” said Hillary supporter Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.). “I would never tell anyone to get out of a race,” she said, but acknowledged that the odds seem slim that Clinton can catch Obama.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said she hoped to talk to Clinton in the next few days to game out what her strategy is to secure the nomination because Feinstein said the race is beginning to harm the party. “I have great fondness and great respect for Sen. Clinton. She is a friend. I’ve worked with her all the time she’s been in the Senate and while she was first lady, and I’m very loyal to her. Having said that, I would like to talk to her to see what her view is on the rest of the race, what the strategy is,” Feinstein said. “I think the race is reaching a point now where there are negative dividends from it, in terms of strife within the party, and I think we need to prevent that as much as we can.”
Even the usually-talkative Chuck Schumer, a major Clinton backer, declined to offer a vote of confidence when asked if Clinton should stay in the race. “It’s her decision to make and I’ll accept what decision she makes,” he said.
A Clinton supporter told the WaPo that the senator has one option: “Withdraw gracefully and help unify the party to beat McCain.” Asked how quickly she would quit the race, the veteran of past presidential campaigns told the Post he would recommend “as soon as this weekend.”
A Clinton advisor added, “If the supers weren’t buying it before, it’s hard to see how they’ll buy it now.”
That’s a good point. Even if Florida and Michigan are added to the mix, Clinton is still losing, meaning she’d obviously be entirely dependent on superdelegates to buck the tide. But what can she tell them now that they haven’t already heard and considered?
