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It's looking grim - but Clinton won't exit
nydailynews ^ | 04/20/08 | MICHAEL McAULIFF

Posted on 04/20/2008 5:07:15 AM PDT by TornadoAlley3

Hillary Clinton quit?

You'd have a better chance getting Bill Clinton to shut up.

But the argument for Clinton to pull the plug on her campaign is not hard to make.

She trails Barack Obama in all categories. There are only 10 contests left, and most look to be tough for Clinton.

In fact, many Democrats think her odds of winning are so slim that all she's doing is helping John McCain.

Some Democratic elders, including party Chairman Howard Dean, are getting edgy about the beating Obama and Clinton are inflicting on each other. Even Clinton stalwarts such as Rep. Barney Frank suggest the candidate who is trailing - Clinton - should bow out by early June.

"No! No!" moaned one Clinton backer at the prospect of a daily fight until the August convention. "It's so painful."

But that unappetizing path is the only one Clinton can still follow all the way to the White House - and the former First Lady isn't about to step off.

One uncommitted superdelegate told the Daily News that senior campaign officials have confided that Clinton has only a 20% chance of winning.

"That's generous," the delegate said. "It's more like 10."

And a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll said that Democrats, by 2 to 1, think Obama is the best candidate.

Still, about the only way Clinton would drop out soon, numerous insiders said, is if she loses Tuesday's Pennsylvania primary and runs out of money.

"That's the only path I see," said one who is confident Clinton will carry Pennsylvania but said money is looking grim for April.

But grim is not dead, and the Clinton campaign has hammered away at Obama lately, jumping all over remarks in which he called small-town Americans "bitter." And she pounded him for his connections to unsavory characters in last week's debate.

"She is going to the convention. There is no reason for her to get out," a devoted Clinton fund-raiser said.

Even with the clock running down, Clinton clings to this argument: If she can put a few wins together, along with an epic Obama stumble, superdelegates could find reason to back her - although more of them have been jumping Obama's way in recent months.

To her team, the fact that most polls have trended toward Obama lately doesn't matter, even with some women from her base defecting. They chalk it up to his financial advantage.

"Obama's been spending a lot of money," explained Ann Lewis, the head of Clinton's women's outreach efforts. "And for the first time, he's running ads that are meant for women."

And there are many Clinton supporters who would be downright angry if she quit.

"Her support, especially with women, would make it extremely hard for the walk-away scenario," said one inside observer.

A high-ranking Democrat who likely will have to referee the contest sees no chance Clinton will quit anytime soon.

"They both have a path, they think, to the nomination," he said. "Until one of them doesn't think they have a clear path to the nomination, you're not going to see anything like that."


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2008; billary; clinton; election; exit; hillary
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To: TornadoAlley3
Image hosted by Photobucket.com
Image hosted by Photobucket.com
LOOK... it's TouristSenator!!!
It shows up in more places than TouristGuy,
only with less class, style and substance...
she's Vaporware, just an empty crusty.
(Please spread me around like the parasite that i am...)
Image hosted by Photobucket.com

41 posted on 04/20/2008 7:01:04 AM PDT by Chode (American Hedonist ©®)
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To: prov1813man

I’d rather see her continue. She’s alienating at least one of the Democrats most reliable bases. I think she’s proving to anyone paying attention that’s she’s a power mad .....


42 posted on 04/20/2008 7:07:34 AM PDT by meatloaf
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To: Dr. Scarpetta

The wicked witch surrounded by her flying monkeys.

43 posted on 04/20/2008 7:10:22 AM PDT by jetson
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To: jetson

I would keep my daughter away from her. She is a “carpet muncher”...ew...


44 posted on 04/20/2008 7:18:06 AM PDT by cmiller623 (Mayor Antonio Villa....or never mind. Los Angeles is doomed!)
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To: dennisw

Meathead


45 posted on 04/20/2008 8:54:06 AM PDT by maggief
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To: mtbopfuyn

The left is worried because the longer Hillary stays in, the tougher it is for the media to conceal facts about Hussein.


46 posted on 04/20/2008 12:42:23 PM PDT by Oldpuppymax (Sad but true)
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To: Pravious
......Obama’s supporters are going to be SO pissed off that they’ll either support McCain ...or stay home....

Have you gone absolutely pravious? Mrs. Clinton will come up with a VP candidate that absolutely suits them ... black, radical,... smoothie, terminally silly .... I'd say that Ford boy from Tennessee has got a shot. He's just as much a jerk as Algonquin J. Obama, except better looking.

At least that way, Mrs. Clinton is assured of the dead black vote from Memphis.

47 posted on 04/20/2008 1:24:31 PM PDT by Kenny Bunk (GOP Plank: Double Domestic Crude Production. Increase refining capacity 50 percent)
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To: Dr. Scarpetta

Who are those ladies? Widows for Clinton?
Clinton Matrix Revisited?


48 posted on 04/20/2008 1:34:06 PM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: Tribune7
Actually, I think Operation Chaos is a mistake...

I share your unpopular view. This is the equivalent of charging drinks at the VFW, when you're a member of the American Legion.

These folks are quite capable of going to Hell in a handbasket without any Republican help.

49 posted on 04/20/2008 7:43:58 PM PDT by Kenny Bunk (GOP Plank: Double Domestic Crude Production. Increase refining capacity 50 percent)
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