Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying

Tonight on CNN’s Larry King Live James Carville continued his attack on Governor Bill Richardson. He called Richardson "disloyal" for endorsing Barack Obama. And he named names. When asked to explain he said that he would provide initials of people who had told him that Richardson agreed to endorse Hillary Clinton. Then, inexplicably, he named three names - not initials - of people who supposedly had been assured by Richardson that he supported Hillary Clinton. Two of the names he rattled off were Haim Saban and Alan Patricof.

If the names sound familiar, they should. Saban and Patricof were two of the big Hillary Clinton donors who yesterday sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi threatening to cut off funds to the DCCC unless Madame Speaker reconsidered her stance on superdelegates. They demanded that Nancy Pelosi withdraw her opinion that the superdelegates should not vote against the will of the people. It was political blackmail of the most arrogant kind.

It is notable that not only Carville, but Hillary Clinton’s biggest financial backers, are also going after Bill Richardson so hard. It is also notable that Carville is continuing to repeat his attacks on Richardson. It is perhaps a sign of how much the Richardson endorsement has hurt the Clinton campaign. The fear must be that other superdelegates are ready to follow Richardson’s lead and endorse Obama. The public attacks on Richardson may be a shot across the bow of any superdelegates ready to jump ship to Obama. Carville’s act of desperation suggests that the fear of being abandoned by superdelegates is not just theoretical, but real.

However, it may already be too late. Carville’s latest television meltdown, along with the Clinton donors’ ill-advised public shakedown attempt, demonstrates how much the Clinton campaign has lost the plot. James Carville, once formidable in the 1990s, now just looks bitter and desperate. He has clearly jumped the shark. And so has Hillary Clinton’s campaign for the Democratic nomination.

Expect some more prominent superdelegate endorsements for Obama in the near future.

Governor Bill Richardson endorsed Barack Obama today. Make no mistake, this is huge. Richardson was a member of Bill Clinton’s cabinet and the Clinton’s worked hard to get his endorsement.

Bill Richardson is of course a super delegate. After Richardson, expect the remaining uncommitted super delegates to move toward Obama and end this race. Since February 5th Obama has picked up over 60 super delegates while Hillary Clinton has picked up only a handful. That trend will now accelerate.

The Politico today also signalled the beginning of the end with a story entitled "The Clinton myth":

One big fact has largely been lost in the recent coverage of the Democratic presidential race: Hillary Rodham Clinton has virtually no chance of winning.

Her own campaign acknowledges there is no way that she will finish ahead in pledged delegates. That means the only way she wins is if Democratic superdelegates are ready to risk a backlash of historic proportions from the party’s most reliable constituency.

Unless Clinton is able to at least win the primary popular vote — which also would take nothing less than an electoral miracle — and use that achievement to pressure superdelegates, she has only one scenario for victory. An African-American opponent and his backers would be told that, even though he won the contest with voters, the prize is going to someone else.

People who think that scenario is even remotely likely are living on another planet.

I would anticipate the media narrative of a "close race" to succumb to the actual reality of the race in the coming days and weeks. The move of the super delegates - and I expect some more prominent names to endorse Obama in the next few weeks - will give the media narrative a much needed reality check as well.

My friend, and staunch Hillary Clinton supporter, Taylor Marsh also sees the writing on the wall.