I am experiencing cognitive dissonance about the idea of a system in which one candidate is essentially allowed to spend another candidate's money (contributed by his loyal supporters, no less) in order to attack and weaken his candidacy. While I would be supportive (or at least accepting) of this "tradition" if she were to drop out NOW, the longer I hear about her flying to 3 more states to say bad things about the party's presumptive nominee, the more sickened I begin to feel about what's happening. Mainly, I think all of us are operating on the assumption that while Hillary has been fighting hard (harder and longer than many of us are comfortable with), she is basically a "good democrat" who will campaign her heart out for Obama and do her darndest to re-unite the party she has helped to divide. But looking at how she's conducted her campaign and is still conducting it (now, apparently, using Obama's money), it is very hard not to suspect that the rumors about out-of-control personal ambition may in fact be correct, and that the benefit of the doubt I have been giving her throughout this process is misplaced. Please God, let's bring this to a close.

I gather Obama is indeed discussing the possibility of paying off her campaign debts--presumably in exchange for her getting the hell out of the race, right now, and throwing her full support behind him as he takes on McCain. It's not actually a bad deal from Obama's point of view--although he'd be well-advised to run a separate fundraising drive specifically for this purpose, since a lot of his small donors would be understandably pissed off at seeing their money go to pay off the debts of a campaign that has, as you say, gotten pretty nasty at times.

I don't have the impression it's an ironclad rule that the winner pays the loser's debts; it's something that often happens but by no means always... probably in situations like this one, where it's a gesture of goodwill and reconciliation, to help secure the loser's support in the contest to come.

Apparently, Obama's campaign can only legally give Clinton's campaign a maximum of $5,000 from money already raised for his campaign. The most he could do is help raise money specifically for purposes of paying off Clinton's campaign debts.

I've never seen her (or Bill) as a good Democrat, unless doing good does her some good.

Her agenda, which has now become undeniable post-NC and Indiana, shows what people have been saying about her since New Hamphsire.

She apparently made a decision, either consciously or sub-concisously, a long time ago, to either get the nomination or destroy Obama in the process.

She doesn't want a successful President Obama. She wants a Failed Nominee Obama, who would be snake bit for 2012. Hillary will then lead the charge against President McCain for four years, all while proclaiming, "I told you Obama was unelectable!"

Well, she's trying to make him unelectable. That's where she has become Hillary the Destroyer. She's not just saying she'd be a better president than he would be, that she's got better qualities, ideas, experience. That's of course what campaigns are all about.

She has consistently, as she's become more desperate, tried to make the case to superdelegates and voters that he is categorically not fit for the Democratic nomination, because he is categorically unsound to be president. She is back to the whole blatant use of racial divisiveness even now, when she's supposed to go softer, stating explicitly how he can't bring in "white people," etc.

She'll win or take him down with her.

Point taken, but I'm not completely convinced that she's now thinking of 2012. If she's that rational, she might be more concerned about the damage she's now doing to her reputation (such as it is); could it be that she just can't let go? This might be getting weird, and I'm remembering the image of an abandoned Nixon playing piano at the Grand Old Opry in 1974 -- stay tuned.

Privatize the Gain, Socialize the Losses

(Hillary in the White House), (Obama's contributors pay the Clinton's $10+ million)

Weird for sure. I have visions of Hillary chaining herself to a post in the Democratic convention in Denver, dousing herself with gasoline and threatening self-immolation if the whole Party doesn't come to its senses and annoint her the nominee.

Well, she could run as an independent candidate. This senator three-way would make for a lively television debate indeed.

I don't like Clinton much, but I think that the idea that her "vigorous" campaigning made Obama weaker is folly. It's good that Obama got past a lot of his obvious liabilities NOW in stead of later. Clinton treated him with kitten gloves compared to what the GOP will do to him later.

Call it inoculation. If Obama is able to defeat McCain, it will be partially because Clinton took the bite out of many coming attacks. Imagine if the Wright issue hadn't appeared until October...

No one likes to see their candidate brought down to earth, but Obamaniacs better get used to it. Don't blame the messenger.

Yeah, that was swell of Hill to stay in the race for the past few months just to toughen the kid up.

When Hillary Clinton said that John McCain was better qualified than Barack Obama to be Commander in Chief, Clinton didn't do Obama any good. You can expect the McCain campaign to play that clip ad nauseam in the fall campaign.

Obama 08!

There is a great deal of truth in what endorendil says. However, I still haven't discounted the possibility that Hillary will wind up as a vice presidential candidate. McCain hasn't picked one yet.

NightSwimmer:

There is a great deal of truth in what endorendil says. However, I still haven't discounted the possibility that Hillary will wind up as a vice presidential candidate. McCain hasn't picked one yet.

LOL! Yep - that's probably more realistic than her on Obama's ticket!

THanks for the laugh today - I needed that!

You're quite welcome, my friend.

Have a great weekend!

;-)