What she is doing is making it more difficult for Obama to win in November and more difficult in getting the party as a whole to unite. She has no chance to win at all at this point. Further the idea of a Obama Clinton ticket is awful. There are way too many people who will never vote for her on the ticket under any circumstance. She gets on the ticket, I vote McCain.

Obama needs a strong candidate with Foreign Policy experience....that aint Hillary.......although she once wore a bullet proof vest in Bosnia....

The fact that she has better appeal to working-class voters than Obama does not mean she is crucial to the ticket. Rather, Obama should be looking for someone who has even greater appeal than hers. Remenber, the primary and general electorates are not the same universe of voters, and results from one cannot be applied to the other.

and she wants is BAD.

Barack Obama's campaign has had one message, CHANGE.  That is not what the clintons are.

Let's be candid.  You have to deal with both, not one.

Barack Obama is about uniting this country together.  Sure, he and Hill's tiff can be fixed, but the question is this, "is she the best VP candidate?"

I say no.  There are too many other talented Dems, including women with far more experience than Hillary Clinton.

Right now there are negotiations, maybe pay her debt, her wanting on the ticket.  But this is Barack Obama's call.  Yes, he may have to take her, but he just may not as Tim Russert outlined last night.  He has a different path to the presidency than the same old 50 + 1.  In other words, they don't need her.  

But in this election it has always been like that, she is just realizing it now.

I doubt it.  I think she would rather that Obama lose to McCain in the Fall so she has a chance for the presidency in 2012.

Also, the Obama campaign is very much aware how hard this will be to win the presidency so he is going to do a MAJOR voter registration drive over the next 6 months in all 50 states to increase the number of Democrats even more to win some of these swing states.

I really don't think she is doing this to get the VP nod?  

Really? Why?  Unless she is CONVINCED Obama will lose, and this is her way to make ammends (read:win back the black vote) for a run in 2012?  If so, I would be very wary of her if I was the Obama camp?

But, I seriously thinks she doesn't want VP.

I think she is doing it to leave on a high note, retire some debt, and JUST BE THERE if Obama is revealed to be an Alien Warlord from the Planet Krell and loses the nomination in Oregon?

Oh, wait, I read a diary here about that last week...Guess that secret is out already?

Obama would never pick Hillary as his VP.  Not after the divisive and race baiting campaign the Clintons have run.  Also, Obama needs someone less showy than he is.  Also, Bill Clinton would be a nightmare to run a campaign with.

The critical issues is how she runs her campaign from this point onward. A slash and burn approach would undermine her and Obama.

Is her new rationale for continuing the race to win the VP slot? It makes sense, but it's a dramatic change if that's the case.

I too support her decision to continue, even knowing she has virtually no chance at winning. She owes that much to her supporters, and the more effective and graceful bow-out would be once the primaries conclude.

First, I'm an HRC supporter to the end, but I don't want her on the ticket with Obama.  I don't think even that could make me vote for him.  

Second, I don't think that would be his best ticket anyway.  Sure, it would get back some of the HRC supporters who his race-baiting has infuriated, but he needs a lot more help than that to win.

Third, I think he's going to lose and I don't want her to be part of that, or to get the blame for it.

Fourth, it's hard for me to believe she would want to be on the ticket with him.  It's so likely that he will lose, in which case she could run again in 2012.  But not if he takes her down with him.

It can helpful to Hillary, her country, her party, and Obama if she fights on -- against McCain and the GOP rather than Obama. And from what we saw in speeches last night and today, that seems what she intends to do.

It would even be worth it to Obama to pay off her campaign debts if she'll tag team with him against McCain in the rest of the primaries.

At this point it doesn't matter how much she touts herself or sticks to failed arguments like gas taxes (with the exception of exploiting the divisive "white/black" and "common man/elitist" trash talk the GOP employs against Democrats -- which also goes for the diarists here too) so long as she doesn't attack Obama in a quixotic cause.

Sometimes the simple explanation is the accurate one:  she soldiers one because she believes she owes it to her supporters, who represent nearly half the party.  Other factors (ego, desire to be VP, etc.) are likely part of the equation, too.

As for the Fall, there is a problem with Obama-Clinton in terms of "change."  On the other hand, who else in the party has such strong appeal to core constituences such as working class whites (read, "Reagan Dems" and therefore at risk to McCain), Latinos and elders?  To win, we need to COMBINE the segments of the party to which each Senator appeals.  

Ultimately, VP is Obama's choice.  But he needs to appeal to those whom HRC has shown the greatest strength.  For the Party, a combo may be worth the downsides to Obama partisans.

I have no problem if Clinton stays in the race until the last primary is run, but at that point, unless something big changes, she should concede with grace.  She's not going to win by seating the MI delegation as its currently constituted (FL and MI combined, after any fair apportionment, would mean a swing of, at most, fifty delegates).  She's not going to win off of superdelegates (she'd need to win the popular vote by a large margin to get that argument off the ground).

If the race ends in June, the Dems will have four months to prepare for the general.  Four months (and a unified convention) is doable.  Two months (and a fractious one) is not.  

And the VP slot?  Obama should run with Richardson or Sibelius.  Clinton as VP, let's face it, would satisfy virtually no one.  

I don't really want to see her on the ticket.  If he wins, she will have no position to do any good.  If he loses, she is forever tarnished.  Let her stay in the Senate where she can make positive change.

She will NEVER be offered the VP slot.
Her negatives are too high.
She would detract from the top of the ticket.

Now she very well may be offered a Supreme Court nomination.
Ginsberg is ready to retire.  A Pres. Obama would likely pick HRC.
But if Clinton continues this useless charade ad nauseum,
she'll be offered nothing but the back door -
By Obama and the rest of the Dem Party.

It's time to concede gracefully.

I never in my life had seen the media want someone to drop out of a race like they do with Hillary.  Somehow they do not believe in letting democracy take its course.

She won IN, which was a sure victory not so long ago  (see the Obama spreadsheet).  It was an important upset if you look at from pre-PA days, as it is a neighboring state to Obama and independents voted.

If you count FL (no doubt that vote will stand) she is only about 300,000 votes behind in the popular vote.  She can make that up in the remaining 6 elections.  She is expected to win big in WV, KY, and RP.  MT and SD are small.  If she wins OR, which could be challenging, she is right back in the game.  OR has high participation as it has mail in votes, so Obama GOTV may not be as important.

Anyway with the lead in popular vote, more delegates from FL and MI than Obama, and ahead in the equivalent electoral vote, she would have a case for the nomination.

Remember no one is taking anything away from Obama. Winning a plurality is not winning.  They both have to earn it with the help of the super delegates.  She is probably is the strongest candidate in the general election as she easily could win OH, FL, AR, and possibly MO and WV, where Obama can't.  He only does better in the former red state of CO and VA, but the last one is a long shot with its heavy military and veteran presence and it hasn't voted for a Democrat for 44 years.

You know how some Congressman in serious trouble with the law pretend they'll run for re-election just so that they can collect more money to pay their legal bills? Well, I thing Hillary is doing a close cousin of that strategy:  Staying in the raise in order to get more money to pay her campaign debts to Penn et al.  I doubt she'll spend much money in the upcoming states.

While I did pen a unity ticket post a few months ago, at this point, I can't see it happening.  

I see Obama picking ABH ... anybody but Hillary.  Time will only tell.

Great Post!  Reality hurts Obama supporters.  McCain will get a MAJORITY of the White and Independent Vote in states won by Obama.  So as I posted earlier the Super Delegates must be very careful not to give away another election UNLESS, Obama improves his poll numbers with the 50 and over vote!

leave her negatives at home..

If her intention is to further stress the racial divides in this country then I wish she would get out now.  You can cut apart the demographics however you wish - I think the most compelling statistic is Obama won Indiana by 7% from those 65 and younger.  Her support is not White, it's Old.  She is not making a case for herself as VP.  She's making a case for anybody but her.

In the South, Obama tends to do better among registered Democrats than independents (and especially Republicans) because African-Americans tend to make up a good number of registered Dems (being one of the most loyal groups to the Democratic Party), whereas Southern independents tend to be white moderates who aren't comfortable voting for the rightwing Republicans.

Elsewhere in the country, Obama does better with independents than registered Democrats because registered Dems tend to be more working class white union members.

nzubechukwu:  You're reading the tea leaves entirely wrong here.

You can't look at Dem. Primary results and try to extrapolate into a general election against John McCain.  Voters in earlier contested Primaries ('68, '72, '80, '88) also said they wouldn't rally behind other candidates:  And, for the most part, Democrats will rally behind the Democrat and Republicans behind the Republican, in the end.

Barack has consistently beaten Hillary among Independents, the true 'swing' category, throughout these Primaries and Caucuses in virtually every State, often by large amounts (esp. in Feb.).

Re: Clinton dropping out --

As has been pointed out, I think the fact that Hillary probably wins W. Virginia and wins Kentucky whether she stays in or drops out pretty much means Barack is greatly helped if Hillary stays in for 2 more weeks of 'campaigning,' but doesn't attack him and makes no real attempt to drive up her numbers in either State.  

If she wants a graceful exit, that's the most graceful exit option:  Wait until after Kentucky/Oregon on May 21, assume loss in Oregon, then call it quits.  Slightly less graceful is waiting until June 3 (after her likely lopsided victory in Puerto Rico on June 1 and losses in Montana & S. Dakota on June 3).

It's not the best option for the Party or the involved parties for Hillary to concede this week and then win big in W. Virginia next Tuesday.  If she drops out this week and still wants a chance at being BO's VP, she'd have to plan to begin campaigning for Obama in Wheeling this weekend.

If Hillary will drop out I will pay her bar tab (Crown Royal boilermakers only) for an evening.

I think she'll stay in the race for a little bit but for all the wrong reasons, she'll probably just try and hit up her supporters for some more money to cover the loans she gave her own campaign, then she's out, kinda sad.

Clinton at this point is damaged goods and would NOT make a good VP choice for Obama. She would not add that much to the ticket and would in fact mobilize republicans to come out and vote, she has very high negatives.

Richardson is a good choice, he could deliver New Mexico and win the Latino vote making the South West and Texas potential pickups.

Heath Shuler (D-NC) and Brad Ellsworth (D-IN) endorsed Hillary Clinton today.

And the longer and ungracefully she refuses to concede, the less acceptable the idea of a unity ticket becomes to most Obama supporters.

Another day gone and another day of speculations on who will be the next President. Another round of mud slinging and unfounded rumors. And I am not talking about those running to become the next US President. I am talking about the American people - or at least some of them. I am astounded to read some of the things people have to say about those leaders who are willing to put their hand up in a difficult time in the American history. What is it that makes people dig so deep to find their own worse self in the way they speak about the candidates? It's like being in South Africa all over again back in 1994 when we had our own first democratic elections. The doomsayers lived large. But the truth is that all three would make fairly good Presidents - and all have their flaws. It won't be the end of America. Can't people just focus on what makes America great instead of scrapping the bottom of the barrel of humanity in the way they talk about their potential future leader? http://angryafrican.net/2008/05/07/novem ber-is-coming-start-stockpiling-baby/

Hillary Clinton will not stay in the campaign until the convention. She will either drop out of the campaign in the next couple of days (unlikely) or in the first week of June (likely). After May 31st, she will have zero chance at the presidency and will only hurt herself in continuing to pursue it.

The problem with Hillary-as-VP is that the Vice Presidency requires a subservient role in the campaign. That's not Hillary Clinton's style. She is an incredibly strong politician and would effectively compete with Obama for message control. Even if she agreed to "fall in line" with Obama's message, the media would not let her.

As Lori mentioned last night, maybe the best thing is to offer her the VP slot and she should politely refuse it.  Then Obama can work on using the VP pick for more working class white and Latino voters.

The people who want her to drop out are afraid of the numbers coming out of WV and KY. It's as simple as that. Hillary dropping out won't solve Obama's demographic problems, it will only paper over them.

Oh please no.

While I think in the new Cheney mode of VP (not Cheney as in lord of evil but Cheney as is in serious power broker and policy hammer) she would excel.

But as others have noted there are issues with this, mainly, Cheney is happy to work in the shadows and not compete for attention.  He praises chimpy to the high heavens and does everything to appear he is doing the will of GWB (not acting as the puppet master of GWB).  I dont see Clinton doing this.

Clinton is a politican at heart and she would not be content with subverting her status openly to Obama (and I mean no insult here).  Normally, VP picks are up and comers of the party (those who are being lined up for 'bigger and better'), old hands on their way out (to provide steadying influence), strategic picks to shore up weaknesses, etc.  And Clinton doesnt fit this mold best in any of the scenarios for Obama.  She is a star in her own right and having her a second would just not fit.

But my biggest problem with her as VP is Bill.  With Hillary as president, you would get the two-fer, her and Bill.  Bill would be a great 'ambassador at large' in the world and almost be a co-pres.  This would be a great role for him.  He'd have a long leash and he could do great things.  He and Hillary would easily work in short hand and they would counter each others excesses welll.

But having Bill publically and power-wise a further step down and also having to be subservient to Obama just isnt going to happen.  Again, not denigrating Bill or slamming him, but having the elder statesman of the party, most widely loved 2 term ex president as the VP's husband and having to toe the line the current president sets?  I just see too much friction.

The Bill/Hillary versus Obama dynamic with Obama as president would create way too many dramas.  How would Obama reign in Bill if he shoots himself in the foot?  I mean Bill is a two term ex president?  I just see too many dangers against very few positives.