Last Rites for Hillary?

"People who think that scenario is even remotely likely are living on another planet. . . . Journalists have become partners with the Clinton campaign in pretending that the contest is closer than it really is. . . . One reason is fear of embarrassment. In its zeal to avoid predictive reporting of the sort that embarrassed journalists in New Hampshire, the media -- including Politico -- have tended to avoid zeroing in on the tough math Clinton faces."

Huffington Post's Cenk Uygur applauds the piece:

"It's somewhat hilarious to watch the media eat up the campaign spin on the record, that she's got a great shot to win this and win the presidency. Of course, the race gets a whole lot more boring with lower ratings when it's Obama vs. McCain, probably with a huge lull in the campaign, where -- God forbid -- the news media will actually have to go out and find and report news, and not just campaign talking points sent to them."

Slate's Christopher Beam takes issue with a NYT analysis last week that Clinton's chances of winning are "narrow":

"All this being a long way of saying, Hillary's path to the nomination is not 'narrow.' It's barricaded. Yet still there seems to be a hesitation among the media to declare Clinton dead. Maybe it's her zombielike ability to rise again -- first in New Hampshire, then in Nevada, then most recently in Texas and Ohio. But people have to understand there will be no knockout blow, no head shot. Rather it will be a long, slow exit that causes pain to everyone involved.

"The question is, who is going to tell Hillary it's over?"

Here are just some of her problems, as enumerated by Time's Mark Halperin:

"1. She can't win the nomination without overturning the will of the elected delegates, which will alienate many Democrats.

"2. She can't win the nomination without a bloody convention battle -- after which, even if she won, history and many Democrats would cast her as a villain.

"3. Catching up in the popular vote is not out of the question -- but without re-votes in Florida and Michigan it will be almost as impossible as catching up in elected delegates.

"4. Nancy Pelosi and other leading members of Congress don't think she can win and want her to give up. Same with superdelegate-to-the-stars Donna Brazile.

"5. Obama's skilled, close-knit staff can do things like silently kill re-votes in Florida and Michigan and not pay a political price.