Hillary knows it's over

[COFoothills]

That was my takeaway from the debates last night.

Her people aren't stupid. They've done the math and they are looking at how things are trending in the OH and TX races. They know they can't possibly catch up in pledged delegates with the landscape playing out as it is.

So they know the only path to the nomination now is to play dirty with FL and MI and/or to work the supers to go against the will of the people. Thankfully, and to her credit, they do not seem to be willing to go down that road, knowing what the consequences of that could be for the party and the country.

So, that's that.

I think she is already positioning herself for a graceful exit right after TX an OH weigh in and looking to do so in a manner that will maintain public respect for her and her viability for future campaigns. Live to fight another day. I also think they will take the high road in order to assure party unity going into November and will make sure that the party comes together nicely after this contentious primary fight. The Clintons are nothing if not Democrat loyalist and they will want to make sure the dems do well in November, regardless of who is at the top of the ticket.

I also think that she is going to stay in a bit longer to be able to continue to rake in contributions so they can pay off their debt. Once she drops out, the money obviously stops coming in. So if you are thinking about donating to her campaign...buyer beware.

[cali]

1. Yep. But she doesn't need to stay in to pay off her debts

She has $20 million in GE funds she can use.

[COFoothills]

4. Is she allowed to use that to cover primary costs though?

The campaign finance rules are confusing as hell, but my understanding was that the GE money can only be used for the GE. Donors can max out twice...once for the primaries and once for the GE, but that money can't be co-mingled. If money comes from donors that aren't maxed out it may be able to be transferred up to the max point though.

Either way, it's a secondary issue.

[fadedrose]

7. Ya, but the sooner she quits the less she'll need to spend (nt)

[yellowcanine]

8. Could she be maneuvering for a VP spot? I doubt it, but stranger things have happened.

And I am not sure Obama would be willing to offer it, seeing her as a possible drag on the ticket with independents and moderate Republicans.

I mean LBJ gave up being the Majority Leader for the VP spot in 1960 and that was way more influential than Hillary's spot as junior Senator from New York.

[Raven]

2. Her closing statement last night was interesting. I don't think I

have ever heard a candidate do that in a debate in the middle of a campaign. It was very gracious and maybe a hint of what her plans are.

[liberalnurse]

3. How did you find DU anyways?

:shrug:

[COFoothills]

9. I just followed the series of tubes...

...on the internets until I came across it.

Be nice. I didn't slam her in any way shape or form. Just gave my analysis of what I saw. Try to rise above. Politics is an adult game, you have to be 18 to vote. We should all act like it.

[liberalnurse]

12. I'm not far away............

[loveangelc]

5. that's IF she loses tx or oh...

[LakeSamish706]

6. I guess the newest post kinda blows this OP all to hell...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4712332

I have never thought that Hillary would go down peacefully....

[COFoothills]

10. Meh....She has to say that right now.

I suspect that 'fight' will be mostly for show. There will be little to gain there and much to lose in terms of her reputation and future prospects.

[K Gardner]

14. Yup. Quite a turnaround from the conciliary ending "tone" last night.

[hisownpetard]

22. Last night, when asked the question about MI and Fla, she said something like, "Well, I think

that'll work itself out."

I knew when she said it that she was just trying to breeze past the question and not have to discuss
it during the debate.

I was amazed when the talking heads, post-debate, deduced that she seems to have accepted the fact
that those delegates will not be seated. When someone's as big a policy wonk as Hillary, they don't
give an amorphous answer like, "It'll just work out" and mean it.

And this morning, she proved that.

[npincus]

11. could be... but Wolfson was still peddling the "plagiarism" theme on the Today Show

this morning. I really think the nastiness and pettiness coming from strategists like him doomed her campaign.

[Little Star]

13. Ha!!!!! In your dreams. n/t

[COFoothills]

15. Which part...

That she will drop out?

Or that she will do so gracefully?

[DemzRock]

16. Sorry guys, you must wait until Texas and Ohio to see if she'll drop out,. If she does really well

there then she won't. She would then also take Pennsylvania probably, and you will see it go to the convention, probably. If she does poorly in Texas and Ohio, then she will gracefully bow out. IMHO.

[COFoothills]

17. But what is the definition of "doing really well"

She can't just win. She has to win HUGE. How do you see that happening exactly?

[Egnever]

19. manipulation

I thought for a shining moment last night that she would bow out of this thing gracefully only to wake up this morning and see her return right back to the role of divider. She is going to continue her lies and innuendo right till its shoved in her face that she has lost.

Its unfortunate. She had my respect again for an hour or two last night. She has once again devolved into the shameless manipulator I thought she was.

[COFoothills]

20. I'm going to defend her on this one.

I think what you are seeing is rhetoric and platitudes that they pretty much have to do as long as they are still in the fight to keep their support motivated.

To say they are going to fight for MI and FL gives hope to their supporters who have little right now.

I suspect that behind closed doors and when there are no cameras and microphones around a very different conversation is taking place.

Just a hunch.

[Egnever]

21. That may be true

However just the fact of her continuing to reinforce the idea that MI and FLA are somehow being cheated spreads division in the party thats completely unnecessary especially now considering even if she was awarded the delegates from there she wouldn't catch up.


She has no plans going forward past Texas. Look at her web page for events scheduled in the states after TX and OH there are none planned. On the flip side Obama has events blanketing all the states going forward. She cant even begin to compete with him going forward. She is out of cash and has no possibility of catching up to his organization going forward. She may know it in her heart of hearts and say so behind closed doors but when she steps in front of the mic she continues to sow the seeds of division.

She is a poison pill at this point. Its time for her to face reality publicly and stop tearing down our nominee.

[hisownpetard]

25. And I think that her statement (3X) about how 'honored' she was to be there with Barack

was a blatant effort to rehabilitate her image, after being booed.
She didn't want the debate to end with that image still in people's minds and had to come up with something
to cancel out the mean-spiritedness of her "Xerox" remark.

I thought it was excessive (It's an honor, I'm honored, I'm really honored) and insincere, but it accomplished
just what she intended it to.

Manipulation on a national level.

[closeupready]

18. If Chelsea has any political aspirations of her own, then if Hillary tears the party apart,

I wonder if that would ever have an impact on Chelsea's dreams? I'm thinking that's GOT to be part of Hillary's thought process.

[mtnsnake]

23. If Obama supporters think this is over, then Hillary has accomplished creating a turning point

in this campaign.

IMO, it would be a fatal mistake for Obama supporters to be coming to this prematurely naive conclusion that "Hillary knows it's over".

[grantcart]

24. This same thought was poping up in threads yesterday

This enterprising DUer found that she has nothing planed in states after Mar 4th.

I think the indicator is media buys. If she stops buying media it means that she wants to pay down the debt which is very substantial.

I don't if she can use GE money to pay the debt down but it sure would be ackward to use that money to pay her loan back.

Besides if she can pay the debt down she will have that largesse for future campaigning.