SHE CAN'T GO ON, SHE'LL GO ON

A little while ago, the MSNBC guys were discussing whether there was any reason for Hillary Clinton to go on if (as seems likely now) she's been blown away in North Carolina and has eked out a win in Indiana. Then I switched to CNN and there was Lanny Davis still hitting the talking points (Obama said he'd win Indiana and he lost, nyah-nyah! We had a big night! Florida and Michigan! Did I mention Florida and Michigan?) and sounding like Baghdad Bob. So maybe some people think Clinton will throw in the towel, but I don't see it. She'll stay in it, and she'll gloat next Tuesday about a win in West Virginia that everyone already knows is coming. But if Obama is going to start looking like a winner, like a guy who can take a punch and stay on his feet, maybe Clinton's persistence is going to start seeming embarrassing rather than tenacious, and maybe her wins are going to get smaller as his get bigger. So maybe that's how this will end -- with a whimper.

*****

...Well, after Hillary spoke, Matthews and Olbermann described the speech as a first move toward ending the battle and achieving reconciliation. I guess there's something wrong with my hearing -- her determination to fight on, expressed up front, sounded sincere and heartfelt, while her talk about uniting around the nominee, left for the end, really seemed pro forma. But hey, I'm just a schmuck with a blog. Every savant I've heard since then agrees with Matthews and Olbermann, and sees a winding down in her affect, but I'm not so sure. We'll see.