Like you, I don't quite understand why Hillary Clinton is staying in the presidential race to the extent of looking foolish and/or too arrogant to face reality. I guess it has something to do with believing she'd be a more "electable" candidate than Obama — a view which is at least supported by some polls. But the idea that she can beat McCain (which may be true) is being undermined by her clinging to the idea that she can beat Obama (which is almost certainly not).
Also (probably) like you, I didn't understand this statement she made the other day. Here, for its one-millionth quoting on the Internet, is the money quote. Reacting to the suggestion that it's time she dropped out of the race, she said..
My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don't understand it.
The second part of that statement outraged a lot of people and triggered a wave of calls for her to do the noble thing and quit the race. Most of the calls, it seemed to me, came from folks who already wanted her to drop out. I agree it was a foolish, offensive thing to say…but in a sense, so was the first part of that paragraph.
Yeah, Bill Clinton didn't drop out in May. That was because it was still numerically possible (probable, actually) for him to get the nomination. In fact, I'll bet you that Bill could have pointed to every upcoming primary and uncommitted delegate and told you with reasonable accuracy where he'd get enough votes to secure the nomination. He was always pretty good at counting.
She has every right to stay in the race…and I don't think she's doing as much damage to the party as some people seem to fear/hope. But she sure is making me think less of her wisdom, if not her devotion to certain causes that will not be realized if McCain wins.