This is an opinion piece. I do not claim any special expertise or inside information. I am merely stating what seems to me to be the situation before us.
And that situation would be this:
Hillary Clinton, if she were to become the nominee, is now damaged goods. Barack Obama, whether intentionally or not, has disabled her, and not in that cool, uplifting, FDR kinda way. Face it, her perceieved strength in the general relies mostly on the idea of "Clinton invincibility." She's tested, she's vetted, she's ready to go on day one. Never lost a national election. Unstoppable. She eats opponents for breakfast, lunch AND dinner.
And yet she can't score a decisive victory against a MINORITY JUNIOR SENATOR.
The myth is dead. And with it a new one is beginning. The fresh upstart who shocked the world. Muhammad Ali in a suit. The force that is taking America by storm. In terms of larger campaign storylines, the Dems would be foolish to turn that away.
"I just did something no Republican ever could. I beat a Clinton," sounds a hell of a lot better than "Wow. That was a tough fight. But we proved that we can squeak out enough victories in big states to get the job done. I'm confident of at least a 10 delegate victory in November."
Now, the reality check is this: While Clinton has already been damaged, Obama still has to score one more big state win for this thing to have an air of legitimacy. If it comes down to superdelegates, there's no way the Democratic Party throws all it's dice on - to reiterate, a MINORITY JUNIOR SENATOR. He needs the to be a giant killer, not a giant incapacitator.
In a media age, it's all about myth. I know the Clinton supporters don't like it, hell I can understand it. But as Barack said on Charlie Rose in 2004, the reason the Democrats have failed to win an election the past 8 years is not a lack of substance, it is the failure to relate their ideas to the larger themes that make up history and the everyday poetry of the American people. IGNORE AT YOUR OWN PERIL. Noone likes a buzz killer and that is exactly what Hillary will be seen as.
You don't have to like him. You don't have to agree with him. But if you're a Democrat and you want to have a chance in November, Obama is now the only way to go.