The Democratic solution is far more complicated than one thinks, and no one should write Clinton off yet. If Hillary wins a majority of the remaining states, and some of them by wide margins, and is able to count Florida, it is not at all clear that she will be all that far off in the aggregate vote. And then she will adduce three or four powerful arguments—1) she has won the large in-play states, (2) she has the greater momentum finishing the primary season, (3) her delegates are predicated more on popular voting, Obama's more the result of caucuses, (4) she may be running stronger against McCain in the majority of polls.
Obama's ace-in-the-hole argument that the super-delegates should not 'steal' the nomination from someone who comes to the convention with the greater delegate count and perhaps total popular vote ( and to do so, would forfeit his supporters in the general election) is balanced by Hillary's supporters' own implied defection should Obama be nominated.
That might be more interesting an argument than one thinks. She might suggest that while Obama's supporters might stay home should she win, hers are more likely to jump to McCain should Obama be nominated and do the nominee much more damage.
Indeed, Hanson is correct but he fails to make the most powerful argument, and for me the most compelling one when discussing either of the Clintons; and that is the psychological reason why Hillary will not stop her campaign until the bitter bitter end.
A little while back, I said in a post titled,Hillary and the Politics of Personal Destruction:
....as things get closer to the wire....she will not go down without swinging.
We have enough information about Hillary's behavior--particularly her behavior under stress--over the last decade or so to be able to make reasonable predictions about her future behavior....
Certainly, both sides of the political aisle suffer from excesses of narcissism. But I think it is reasonable to predict that we will see no "Mitt-Romney-for-the-good-of-the-party" moment from Hillary, when and if she is eclipsed by Barack.
For the narcissist it is always a zero-sum game she plays with other individuals. From the perspective of the narcissist, if someone else "wins", the narcissist "loses". It cannot be otherwise, since on some level they know that their own talent and skills are way overblown. Hence, they cannot hope to "win" based on those talents alone. Thus, the behavior of the classic narcissist is mostly directed toward making others lose so they can win by default. To that end, there is no behavior or tactic that is considered out -of-bounds or over-the-top.
Right now, as political analysts all seem to agree that Hillary doesn't stand a chance of getting enough delegates to win the Democratic nomination, they have forgotten how dangerous and truly obsessed she is with power. Like the narcissist she is and has always been, if she cannot win she will do her utmost to make Barack lose--and then she will win by default.
Thus it is unlikely that the Democrats will persuade Hillary to drop out for the good of the Party (SHE knows what is for the good of the Party, in the same way that SHE knows what is good for you and I in health care and all other areas, after all). So, expect her campaign to go on and on and on....and on.
MY CAMPAIGN WILL GO ON AND ON...
(Love Theme From The Democratic Titanic)
Every night in nightmares
I see him, winning.
That is how you'll know I'll go on.
No matter the vote count
Or polls or projections...
My campaign must always go on.
Indeed, I was born to lead
I believe I'm destined to go on.
Dues paid, I've watched Bill get laid;
Now it's my turn to win
I'm entitled to go on and on....
Just once, no matter how brief
I'll be Commander-in-Chief
And the world will know who's in charge.
Power's not half as much fun
Unless you're The Big One
And that is why you know I'll go on
Indeed, I was born to lead
I believe I am destined to go on.
Dues paid, I've watched Bill get laid;
Now it's my turn to win
I'm entitled to go on and on....
Once there, there's nothing I'll fear,
And at last I will be vindicated!
It's true, I'm the best thing for you
I'm so sure I'll be super delegated;
As soon as I win, and after the spin
Hillary Rodham Clinton will go on and on.
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