Clinton campaign must die a natural death

I think it's clear at this point that the Clinton campaign is in its final throes. Assuming realistic outcomes for the remaining contests, she cannot win in pledged delegates, and she will undoubtedly lose the popular vote, as well. Her remaining trump card--reinstating Michigan and Florida--would require the determined support of the party elites, but her support with them is waning: every day she bleeds a few more superdelegates.

However, the smart thing for the Obama campaign to do would be to pretend that none of this is the case, and to stop harping on tactical arguments as to why Clinton should drop out of the campaign "for the good of the party". Leave that argument for the punditry to make; coming from the Obama camp, all it does is raise the hackles of Clinton's base of supporters and make them feel like their candidate is getting elbowed out of the process.

If there is the appearance that Clinton withdraws from the race entirely of her own volition, it will go a long way towards healing the rift that has cropped up in the Democratic Party over the course of the long primary season. I know that if the situation was reversed and Obama was facing bleak prospects for the nomination, I'd certainly be happier with Clinton and the Democrats if they allowed my candidate to withdraw from the race on his own terms.

And if it turns out that Clinton is just absolutely determined to drag things out until the convention, then, well--there wasn't anything anyone could do about it anyway.