Hillary Fights On

"This gambit by Clinton is simply an attempt to steal the nomination. It's obviously not going to work, because Democratic superdelegates don't want to commit suicide. But this episode is very revealing about Clinton's character. I try not to make moralistic characterological judgments about politicians, because all politicians compromise their ideals in the pursuit of power. There are no angels in this business. Clinton's gambit, however, truly is breathtaking.

"If she's consciously lying, it's a shockingly cynical move. I don't think she's lying. I think she's so convinced of her own morality and historical importance that she can whip herself into a moralistic fervor to support nearly any position that might benefit her, however crass and sleazy. It's not just that she's convinced herself it's okay to try to steal the nomination, she has also appropriated the most sacred legacies of liberalism for her effort to do so. She is proving herself temperamentally unfit for the presidency."

Steal? Isn't that what the Democrats accused George W. Bush of doing?

David Corn of Mother Jones is also incredulous about Hillary's Florida/Michigan maneuver:

"Wait a minute; those states violated Democratic Party rules--rules that at one time Clinton supported. Now she's saying that Dems in those naughty states ought to decide what happens to their delegations. That's just wrong. And it's also wrong for her to vow--as she did--a convention fight over these delegations, if the party does not work something out before then.

"It's almost as if Clinton is grasping for a cause to justify her ongoing campaigning."

Salon's Walter Shapiro puts her on the couch:

"Early in her first-lady years, Clinton described herself as 'a Rorschach test.' But right now the image embedded in the ink blots is as perplexing as it has ever been. There are those who see Clinton staying in the race out of ill-concealed ambition -- whether it is a ploy to become Obama's indispensable running mate or to lay the groundwork for an I-told-you-so 2012 campaign. Others go to the opposite extreme in theorizing about her delusion, denial or even wanton destructiveness.

"But what if -- for the sake of argument -- Clinton is merely doing what she always said that she intended to do, which is to scrap for every last delegate through the final primaries? What if she is actually moved by the you-go-girl enthusiasm she encounters hand-shaking her way along all the rope lines? What if she looks at the electoral map and broods about Obama's potential difficulties in November in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida (all states that Clinton carried in the primaries)? . . .

"These days, Hillary is in it to spin it. Her goal is to come out of the primaries (which end June 3 in South Dakota and Montana) with a popular-vote lead over Obama after toting up all the primaries. While this is an entirely symbolic benchmark (as is Obama's claims to a majority of pledged delegates), it now seems attainable post-Kentucky . . .

"It is not much of a strategy -- and it is hard for the Clinton spin team even to maintain it with a straight face -- but it is hers."

A Daily Kos poster fulminates against a joint ticket: