The End Game For Hillary

“This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
Ill never look into your eyes…again” — The Doors

The AP has released a story saying that Hillary is going to concede tonight, but the campaign has denied that it’s true.

However, according to Terry McAuliffe, Hillary will give up the ghost if Obama hits 2118 delegates.

CBS is saying that Obama sits a mere 36 delegates away from that number and the Politico is saying that the delegates he’ll collect in South Dakota, Montana, and from the super delegates will probably put him over the top.

That’s probably correct.

Theoretically, could Hillary fight on all the way to the convention and try to get the super delegates to switch their votes back to her?

Sure, but that would take her over the line from “scrappy & tenacious” to “obsessed.” On the other hand, she could still step out now, negotiate with the Obama campaign to pay off her debts from the run, and be in position to be a strong contender in 2012 if he loses. All that would disappear if she fought on after it appeared that he had captured the nomination.

So, is Hillary going to concede tonight? Probably not, unless Obama definitively locks it up in the next few hours. However, is it likely that this race will be over by the end of the week? Yes, it is.

This is the end for Hillary.

Update #1: According to the AP, Obama has clinched it.

Barack Obama effectively clinched the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday, based on an Associated Press tally of convention delegates, becoming the first black candidate ever to lead his party into a fall campaign for the White House.

Campaigning on an insistent call for change, Obama outlasted former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in a historic race that sparked record turnout in primary after primary, yet exposed deep racial divisions within the party.

The AP tally was based on public commitments from delegates as well as more than a dozen private commitments. It also included a minimum number of delegates Obama was guaranteed even if he lost the final two primaries in South Dakota and Montana later in the day.

The 46-year-old first-term senator will face Sen. John McCain of Arizona in the fall campaign to become the 44th president.

Clinton was ready to concede that her rival had amassed the delegates needed to triumph, according to officials in her campaign. These officials said the New York senator did not intend to suspend or end her candidacy in a speech Tuesday night in New York. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they had not been authorized to divulge her plans.

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