Will Obama's Assassin Be Named Hillary?

A strange story is circulating today that Hillary Clinton will acknowledge Barack Obama as her party's presidential nominee tonight - but she won't pull out of the nomination campaign. Instead, so the story goes, she'll wind up her enormously expensive campaign, send the workers home, but stay in the game to hector Obama on her pet policies.

Is Hillary the next Joe Lieberman? She's already endorsed John McCain over Obama as a suitable commander in chief to defend America, an endorsement that McCain will use to pummel the Democratic Party's nominee time and time again. Then there's Bill's line about how the election ought to be between, "two people who loved this country and were devoted to the interest of this country.” In other words, Hillary and McCain - again. Stuff like this you can't buy. The Republicans ought to be picking up the tab for Hillary's multi-million dollar campaign deficit.

I don't think she'll do it but what befalls Obama won't be foremost in her mind. If Hillary concedes the nomination, she'll look worse than stupid if she doesn't withdraw. In fact she'll position herself to be seen as dogging Obama, forcing him to split his energies between fending her off and fighting the party's opponent, John McCain.

At least Joe Lieberman waited to defect until after the 2000 election was taken away from Al Gore.