Pressure Increases for Hillary Clinton to Withdraw Bid for Candidacy

Barack Obama’s victory in North Carolina and the stalemate between Obama and Clinton in Indiana has increased the number of those democrats calling for an end to her run.

Barack Obama defeated Hillary Clinton in North Carolina by 14 delegates, and the former First Lady won Indiana by just 2 delegates.

John Zogby, noted pollster and one of Clinton’s most radical opponents, has been saying since Tuesday’s primary that there is no possibility Clinton can win and that she will withdraw before the next primary in West Virginia.

The country’s primary political and media commentators feel the same way. “now we know who will be the democratic candidate and no one can dispute it,” said Tim Russert this morning, after learning the results of the last primary.

For their part, the New York Times said that Clinton has exhausted her options, and the Los Angeles Times assured readers that while Obama is cruising, the former First Lady is grasping at a very remote possibility. Even long time Clinton supporters are becoming skeptical.

Former Senator George McGovern, of South Dakota, who initially supported the former First Lady, invited her yesterday to put aside her struggle because, he said, today she would practically need a miracle to gain the nomination.

The Clinton campaign is sure to fight to the end. “Obviously we need to get good results in the next elections,” said Howard Wolfson, spokesman for Hillary’s campaign, who later revealed that the Senator has used 6.4 million dollars of her own money to fund the campaign.

Wolfson added that that funding is just proof of the Senator from New York’s commitment to the presidential race.

At the same time, the campaign seems prepared to increase the pressure for including the Florida and Michigan primaries, which Clinton won, but these states were penalized for changing the dates of their primaries, and so not able to send delegates to the national convention in August in Denver. However, these efforts could be futile.

Zogby, the pollster, predicted that in the next 48 hours some 30 ‘super delegates’ will give their vote to Obama. And that, adding to the fact that Obama is only 180 delegates short of winning the candidacy, would be able to create a domino effect in the super delegates, which would require Clinton to say goodbye to her presidential hopes.

The main internet forums, U.S. political blogs, were yesterday almost entirely occupied with reiterating their conviction that the race for the White House, for Hillary Clinton, ended in Indiana.

In a kind of memo to the Senator, the Daily Kos wrote, “Re: List of things to do before leaving. Please, before withdrawing, help the party begin the process of healing. Thank you in advance for your attention to this issue.”

In a similar tone, the site “Slog” published a ‘mathematic proof’ of the end of the race. “With North Carolina and Indiana, Obama needs 180 total delegates in order to gain the nomination. This is 36% of the total. Clinton needs 326 delegates, 68% of those that remain.

“Drudgereport,” another site, published a photo of Obama with the subtitle, “The Nominee.”