Hmm…
Do Barack Obama’s wins in Wisconsin and Hawaii yesterday–now 10 primary/caucus wins in a row–mean that Hillary Clinton’s campaign is nearly finished? Bloggers think so. Richelieu wrote here last night, “This Wisconsin loss means that Obama’s surging momentum will grow even more powerful. New polls showing Obama closing in Hillary’s Texas redoubt provide more evidence.” Read the entire thing. At the Corner, Larry Kudlow echoes, “The Clinton Restoration is over. President Bill Clinton’s political invincibility is over. Hillary’s electability is over…As of tonight, the market has officially pulled the plug, terminating her campaign.” Similar words from Allahpundit: “She’s got a few weapons left — brass knuckles at tomorrow’s debate, 527s taking off and strafing the Messiah in Texas and Ohio– but that won’t roll back the advance.” And Captain Ed: “Right now, it appears that the more she tries to press, the worse she performs. Negative attacks and ridiculous charges of plagiarism only dug the hole deeper. We are just about to the end of the Restoration.” Will Hillary drop out of the race soon? At Pajamas Media, Rick Moran says that her retreat may be inevitable: “[W]atch over the next two weeks as Obama begins to catch and then surpass Hillary Clinton in Ohio and Texas. A double loss in those states would almost certainly bring loud and persistent calls from leading Democrats for her to exit the race.” Before yesterday’s contests, Hillary was expected to do better in Ohio and Texas, but Paul Mirengoff at Power Line says that “it’s not immediately apparent what differences between the charactistics of Wisconsin and, say, Ohio would enable Clinton to make up a double-digit gap.” More on that from the Fix’s Chris Cillizza, who says, “The shape of the electorate in Wisconsin should have played to Clinton’s strengths. Nearly six-in-ten voters in the Wisconsin Democratic primary were women; nine in ten were white; forty percent earned $50,000 or less; and 58 percent had no college degree. And yet, in each of those categories, Obama ran ahead or close to even with Clinton.” And Glenn Reynolds says that Hillary might know it, noting that in last night’s speeches, “Hillary did a fine job, but she looked — and sounded — tired. Obama looks energized and happy. She gave a laundry list of policies. He’s telling people to go vote for him in early voting.” James Joyner at Outside the Beltway rounds up similar opinions, but concludes “because of the rules by which the Democratic Party choses its nominee, the race remains essentially tied.” And still, as Matt Lewis at Townhall remarks, “it’s hard to write off the Clintons, because it’s hard to write-off anyone who will do anything to win. ” Is this the end of Hillary Clinton’s campaign? She might have a fighting chance if she can pull a win in Texas and Ohio, but it looks like the House of Clinton may be crumbling.
