Hillary Clinton has a piece in the Daily News today entitled, "Why I Continue To Run." I don't really buy the innocent explanation of that comment that seemed to be hinting, "I'm staying in the race in case Obama gets assassinated" but I don't think she's out of her mind to think that she stands a better chance of beating John McCain than the Senator from Illinois does. There are some polls that suggest otherwise but there are plenty that support that claim.
The point I think she misses is that there does not seem to be any likely scenario in which she could wrest the nomination from Obama without fracturing the Democratic party and creating enormous ill will…and not just among African-Americans. Polls that show her winning states Obama might not win do not take that into account. They just presume she wins the nomination fair and square and with no charges of having stolen that nomination from its rightful recipient. I can't imagine how that could occur at this stage of the game.
I should also add that even if she would be a stronger candidate than Obama, I think he'll still do well…and there's a lot that can happen between now and November (including the selection of running mates, as well as the debates) that could raise or lower the "electability" of either. The fact that she might be the slightly stronger candidate now is not that significant.
This whole matter is very uncomfortable for me because I was always a tremendous fan of Hillary Clinton and would like to be again. I thought — and still think — that she's one of the smartest and most unjustly-attacked public figures of our time. But as a candidate for the presidency lately, she hasn't seemed all that wise, and I don't think it's just a matter of Obama winning the nomination. I think she's done an awful lot to lose it.