“As Bill Clinton put it on March 17: ‘If Senator Obama wins the popular vote then the choice will be easier’…Even Mr. Clinton seemed to concede the nomination to Mr. Obama unless Mrs. Clinton wins the popular vote; without that, she doesn’t even have an argument. Unfortunately for the Clintons, almost nobody who has done the math thinks that she can win the popular vote without re-votes in Florida and Michigan…All this means that Mrs. Clinton’s chances of winning are negligible, barring some major development.“
Like Alter, Morris, Todd, Politico, Brooks and Obama Girl before him, the NYT‘s Nicholas Kristof joins the ranks of those calling the race for Obama, and takes the high road in trying to convince the Clintons to beg off: “Senator Clinton, who has done so much fine work on health and children’s issues for so many years and who more recently has been an outstanding senator, deserves better. Likewise, Mr. Clinton, who tackled AIDS and poverty so passionately since leaving the White House, risks tarnishing his own legacy.” I applaud the effort, Mr. Kristof, but if that sort of reasoning had any purchase with the former First Couple, I think we would’ve already seen its results by now.