Hillaryland Hits Back

"It's been pretty clear for over a month that Hillary's only chance to win was to hope that Obama got hit by a meteor or something. In the end, though, he got hit by several meteors and it still didn't knock him out. Short of Obama literally keeling over from a stroke, I'm not sure what Hillary has left to hope for."

Americablog's John Aravosis is definitive:

"There are simply no more excuses for why Hillary is staying in the race. She can't catch up . . .

"She is in the race to hurt Obama, to make sure he doesn't win in the fall against McCain, so that she can say 'I told you so' and then run again in 2012."

American Prospect runs this headline: "Is Clinton the Last to Know It's Over?"

HuffPoster R J Eskow blames Hillary's whole approach:

"It was a tall order, and she fell short. She threw the kitchen sink at Obama and he came back strong. He refused to pander on the gas tax, instead choosing to bank on the wisdom of the voters. He exceeded expectations, then capped his victory with a speech that was at once inspiring, populist-themed, and generous toward his opponent. (He gave the audience a foretaste of the game he'd be bringing to John McCain, too.)

"So why couldn't she close the deal? Pundits will argue about that in the days and weeks to come, but here's my theory: Voters rejected cynicism. The notion that 'we can play the Republican game, but better' alienated them. In the end, the 'lesser of two evils' approach was less effective. That's a hopeful sign for the future."

At Mother Jones, David Corn at least raises the possibility that it's not over:

"Are Russert and the other pundits penning Clinton's obit prematurely? Does she have no choice but to say good-bye? . . .

"I would not count her out so quickly. Not that she has a chance. As the cable news analysts pointed out repeatedly on Tuesday night, Obama was racking up more delegates and more popular votes--further undermining any argument Clinton might be able to make to the superdelegates. But as I've noted before, the lesson the Clintons learned during the impeachment episode was this: no matter how bad it gets, you just keep putting one foot in front of the other and ignore those calling for you to quit. The Clintons have defied the pundits before. They may give it another stab."

How about the right? Obama is no Superman, says Dean Barnett at the Weekly Standard: