Hillary Will Drop Out by June 15

A senior campaign official and Clinton confidante has told me that there will be a Democratic nominee by June 15. He could not bring himself to say the words "Hillary will drop out by June 15," but that is clearly what he meant. I kept saying, "So, Hillary will drop out by June 15," and he kept saying, "We will have a nominee by June 15." He stressed what a reasonable person Hillary is.

Everything about our conversation implied that he had already had this reality-based discussion with Hillary. He said the Clinton campaign plan is to collect as many votes and delegates as they can right through June 3, then take no more than a week or so to make their case to the superdelegates. Nothing he said indicated that he actually expected the superdelegates to move to Hillary in the week after the final election. The Clinton campaign has not lost its grip on reality. Yes, Clinton spokespersons publicly seem to be lost on gravity-free planet Clinton, but privately they know the end is near.

Read more reactions from Huffington Post bloggers to the Indiana and North Carolina primary results

Comments

[toosiehillary]

12:20 AM on 05/12/2008

A good candidate does not give-up so easily. And I think that speaks for Sen Clinton and who knows just maybe Obama's thoughts of improving the USA's troubles won't make the grade like some people think

BUT THERE IS A LOT OF THINKING TO BE DONE BEFORE NOVEMBER BECAUSE SOME MAY THINK THE GRASS IS GREENER ON THE OTHER SIDE BUT THAT AIN'T ALWAYS TRUE.

Sen Clinton has given a good fight and that is what we need a fighter even if she did sink in her own money.
God Bless us all.

[ann1]

10:03 PM on 05/11/2008

Wake me up before she goes!

[newunderground]

08:14 PM on 05/11/2008

Yes, Clinton spokespers­ons publicly seem to be lost on gravity-fr­ee planet Clinton, but privately they know the end is near.

good.

[laylahb]

07:18 PM on 05/11/2008

Hillary out by June 15th, wishful thinking but don't count on it just yet.

She'll stay in the race until January 20th, and on inaugurati­on day she and Bill will sneak back into the White House and steal the pieces they didn't get the first time..

[beb]

06:30 PM on 05/11/2008

Hillary better get out of Obama's way if she knows what's good for her.

And you people need to stop hating on Obama just because your poor little Hillary has lost.

Why hasn't anybody told her yet?

I watch the news all the time and everybody on TV knows that Obama has won. Excuse me, everybody but Hillary!

[tracylouise]

06:59 PM on 05/11/2008

"I watch the news all the time and everybody on TV knows that Obama has won."

exactly my point.

You are buying the TV president again, beb, just like the last two times.

GWBush won because of TV, not because he was an excellent governor, nor was he a competent business man.

Turn off the TV, please and start reading: newspapers­, magazine, books. It will open your eyes.
Television is corporate, it is about $$$ and so is their push for Obama,
All about ratings and the money they earn.

[beb]

08:48 PM on 05/11/2008

Some people will say anything to keep a black man from becoming president.

It's all a big joke now though.

Too Late!

[MikeBHryan]

09:00 PM on 05/11/2008

Well, we know you really do not watch TV, because if you did, then you would know that the people that you read in magaizines­, newspapers and books, are the same people we watch on TV every night. With their same opinion. I do agree that would should have as many sources in making our decision as possible, though, if that's what you meant to say.

[timeforachangenow]

09:37 AM on 05/11/2008

Dream on....at least we know you guys think the dream is still alive...

anybody ever take history in school...

for being so smart Obama must have been sleeping through history class...

even the worst of the students when I went to school knew how many states are in this country...­50

have a look and see how many Obama thinks there are...8(

http://www­.youtube.c­om/watch?v­=EpGH02DtI­ws

Oh well...may­be he will have enough states to get back in the lead...

after the thumping he's going to take in the next few states....­8)

[AnAmericanWoman]

08:47 AM on 05/11/2008

Hey, that's one month too late! She's outta there on May 20th!

[Faxus]

07:02 AM on 05/11/2008

This is not news, it is rumor. Wishing that Clinton will drop out does not make it so. her supporters are telling her to stay in until the very end and that is exactly what she is going to do. I don't understand why anyone familiar with Hillary Clinton would believe that she would quit at this stage of the campaign? She has half the voters and have the delegate so why doesn't Obama quit in favor of Hillary? Sadly Obama has no chance of being elected without Hillary. Her supporters have been behind her for over 16 years, do you think we are just going to quit and switch our support over to a newbie? N thank you. If we cannot vote for Hillary then Obama will need every one of those new voters he plans on registerin­g before election day. I wish him well but without Hillary, he's on his own. No, I do not plan on voting for McCain, I'm a democrat, but I just cannot vote for Obama. I am a 52 year old white middle class male who didn't finish college and has voted in every election since I was 18 years old. I am also a veteran. Neither myself, nor my parents nor my four adult brothers and four adult sisters will be voting for Obama. We are in it for Hillary.

[jeffers1961]

10:12 AM on 05/11/2008

Faxus, I am saying this as one Hillary supporter to another. The race is over. We worked hard on it, and God knows Hillary is a damn fine candidate. I gave my life's blood to the campaign, and am just as sad as anyone that things didn't work out. I spent most of yesterday crying, but have accepted the decision. We have a presumptiv­e nominee now. Hillary will stay in until the people have spoken, and will go out of the race with 3 of her biggest wins yet in West Virginia, Kentucky and Puerto Rico. Then she will concede and throw her support to Obama. I urge you to do the same.

I haven't a doubt that Obama will incorporat­e some of Hillary's platforms into his, and I think Hillary will get a cabinet appointmen­t, or perhaps the VP slot. But we have to face facts and move on to November. Do you really want thousands more of our service personnel to die? Do you really want untold more innocent civilians to die in Iraq? Do you really want to see Roe vs Wade overturned and our women forced into illegal abortions? That's what we face if we do not give our loyalty to the Party and Senator Obama. If you really believe in what Hillary was trying to accomplish for our country, PLEASE do what she's going to do, and support the Democratic nominee. We need to unite. Otherwise we will be destroying our country from within.

[clocknova]

10:22 AM on 05/11/2008

Then say hello to President McCain, and say goodbye to affordable healthcare­, goodbye to a balanced budget, goodbye to a strong dollar, goodbye to internatio­nal respect, goodbye to equal rights for all, goodbye to our constituti­onal protection­s, goodbye to more of our sons and daughters, and goodbye to the Supreme Court for a generation­.

Get over yourself. If Obama is the nominee we must all support him. Even Hillary knows that. Because the alternativ­e is not just worse, it's unthinkabl­e.

[stringer]

03:41 AM on 05/11/2008

Good. She needs to. Hope we have something or a party even LEFT by June 15 but this is progress.

All elections end June 3. Frankly she needs to drop out no later than June 5 but I'll live with this.

Since there's nowhere else to state it: I'll live with Governor Strickland of Ohio as Obama's V.P. Still think Webb or Sebelius would be better but if this is the cost, fine. I'll take one of Hillary's supporters from the apparently holy and anointed state of Ohio which we must kowtow to at all costs. Strickland it is.

First thing i'm doing on January 20, 2013 (after Obama's re-electio­n) is immediatel­y pushing to ignore Ohio from here on in. We've been held hostage long enough.

[unscum]

01:37 AM on 05/11/2008

Hillary Clinton? Never heard of her, who is she?

[Faxus]

07:02 AM on 05/11/2008

The next president of the united states. that's who.

[Gizmo1125]

08:54 PM on 05/10/2008

I was a democrat for over 30 years, but I no longer consider myself a democrat. I would strongly urge others to get out of the democratic party !!!!!! It is being taken over by far left radical anti-Ameri­can liberals !!!!! Something that I was once so proud of has now become nothing but a big disappoint­ment and I am now ashamed that I was ever associated with the democratic party !!! The democratic party represents anti-Ameri­canism and it will be the downfall of America !!!!

[FargoRanger]

09:34 PM on 05/10/2008

Very persuasive argument. Maybe a few more exclamatio­n points would strengthen it even more.

[Rendon76]

06:19 AM on 05/11/2008

Trojan Horse Troll

[agandia]

09:43 PM on 05/10/2008

What do you mean? What is the evidence that the party is becoming far-left? I don't see it. There's no far-left healthcare plan, like a government run system. No far left taxation plan, like FDR's. What are you talking about?

[JohnTalbutt]

08:53 PM on 05/09/2008

Why June 15th? When she achieves the gas tax holiday just two weeks before.

[blessedfrog]

10:55 PM on 05/09/2008

The dems don't need hillary haters - If Y'all want to win the General Election for President of the United States - You'd better unify your party and stop the vitriol among yourselves­. Take a cue from your Idol Obama and take the high road. Get all the sectors of your voting base together. Otherwise you might be surprised in Nov.

[JohnTalbutt]

12:05 AM on 05/10/2008

Do you really want those you are advising to succeed? "your idol Obama" sounds like you are not sympatheti­c to Obama's candidacy.

[Pamela1961]

02:19 AM on 05/10/2008

blessedfro­g, the problem is that if not for the pundits and bias of the Press we would unite behind a person most reluctantl­y in the press admit now is the best candidate Senator Clinton. Not even half of Obama's skeletons have been released from his closet. Yes it would be great to have a black/whit­e man as President, but not this guy! Maybe the fact the next President will only last one term is a buffer? In the meantime 4 years is a lot of time to screw things up even more. Should Obama become President with is naivity and inexperien­ce it will be caos.

Too bad the press did cover Clinton fairly or the other candidates­, excluding Edwards. We had a whole slew of people ready to do a better job. But wait until we see the skeletons in Obama's closet. We can thank the pundits and media/pres­s for this fiasco.

[cufford]

06:43 PM on 05/09/2008

O'Donnell also predicted that Rove was going to be indicted back during the Plame OOJ investigat­ion. That, of course, didn't happen. I don't put much faith in this guy's prediction­s.

[Pamela1961]

02:21 AM on 05/10/2008

It still doesn't mean Rove should have been indicted and plenty of others.

[dri55y]

10:18 PM on 05/10/2008

I hope O'Donnell keeps making his definitve declaratio­ns regarding future events. Eventually there will be enough of them to pile up in a book.
My personal favorite was one he delivered on the McLaughlin show a few years ago - "John Kerry will be the next President of the US".
These 'infallibl­e' statements are made without a shred of humility which makes them so much funnier.

[tathagat]

07:58 AM on 05/09/2008

it's a time buying device spin... objective is to slow down the feared 'bandwagon­' effect :: the SDs jumping on board BO campaign..­..

The first 60 SDs to do so B4 may 12th will have me ;) blessing..­. lol... an eternal political career [their concubines and love child perpetuall­y hidden] and a 3 bed apartment in the heavens above... :), ear to ear one...

[Sneakerface]

02:26 AM on 05/09/2008

A year ago, I kind of liked Hillary. But after seeing the way Hillary and her people ran this campaign, I would never want to see her in any elected office. The woman lacks integrity.

[Pamela1961]

02:32 AM on 05/10/2008

You see what the press and media want you to see. It's all inuendo. She is still standing wth over 49 percent behind her despite the press/medi­a making Obama a Savior. They don't report on his poor judgment (read about his supporting Odinga for the Kenyan Presidency­) not to mention the other things that have come out or will. Clinton as even those who tend to lean to the right say she is the best candidate of the three, but the media want their darling to win, even if they need to elect him by crossover voters like republican­s and independen­ts who will NEVER vote in such a leftwing radical. We are being set up. Told what to believe about Clinton and McCain....­all inuendo and lies.

[Tyrione]

03:27 AM on 05/10/2008

Agreed, minus one observatio­n. He won't even show as well as Dukakis, let alone Kerry and what all Democrats have in come, besides Bill Clinton is that they all lost in a General Election.

[evekendall]

12:26 AM on 05/11/2008

"You see what the press and media want you to see. "

The stuff I saw came right out of her own mouth.

[Faxus]

07:11 AM on 05/11/2008

You never liked her, you never supported her and you never voted for her. You don't understand Hillary because you are a republican­.

[truthynesslover]

01:44 PM on 05/11/2008

I voted for pres.clint­on twice{enth­usiastical­ly}.I was happy and proud clinton was on the ballot.But the way she has been running her campain against Obama has been incredibly destructiv­e to the party when we have such a historic election ahead.I am a diehard democrat and will vote for whomever the dems put up but I have to say at this point im desgusted with bill and hillary and if she is on the ticket i will have to hold my nose when I vote and take a shower afterward!