Blog Buzz: Goodbye Hillary, Hello McCain vs. Obama (and Running Mate)

Our daily look at stories and topics lighting up the Internets:

The Long Goodbye

DHinMI and BarbinMD wonder at the tension between message discipline ("I'm not dead yet.") and facing reality ("And now, the end is near, and so I face the final curtain ...") playing out in Camp Clinton. Marc Ambinder argues that Hillary should go to Minnesota tonight and appear with Obama. Nevertheless, Steven Benen at the Carpetbagger says slow down. Fivethirtyeight.com says everyone should take a deep breath. Similarly, Will Bunch on Attytood thinks that people expecting a more defined ending to the Democratic nomination tonight will be disappointed. Looking back, Greg Sargent at TPM Cafe suggests that Hillary Clinton held (holds) on to the last in order to strengthen her emotional grip on her constituency. The Page's Mark Halperin thinks that while Obama underestimates the intensely loyal feelings many of Clinton's supporters have about her, Clinton isn't prepared for the emotional comedown the day after she drops out. But in case you feel sorry for the Clintons, Andrew Sullivan quite forcefully (with the force only the obsessed can muster) says: Don't.

And...They're Off!

Kos runs the numbers and decides that Obama is in line for 283 electoral votes (or what in the 21st century we call...a landslide). Not so fast, says Neil Stevens at Red State, arguing that McCain starts in a pretty good position (and is that a GI Joe shout-out at the bottom?). Hillary Clinton may (soon) be gone, but she won't (soon) be forgotten, as Ed Morrissey dials up the way-back (to March) machine and trots out her comments about the so-called "Commander-in-Chief test."

Veepstakes: Next Train for Clark-sville?

Matt Stoller at Open Left tosses Wes Clark's name into the Veepstakes ring. Carpetbagger's Steve Benen likes Clark but wonders about an Obama-Clark ticket. Matthew Yglesias, on the other hand, is already bored of the Veepstakes and is ready to move on to cabinet speculation. (Sec-stakes?) The Weekly Standard's Dean Barnett also notes the Clark push but points out one small problem: Clark was a bad candidate.

—Robert Schlesinger and Johannah Cornblatt