It's a Question of When

Despite her public posture, several Clinton advisers told the NY Times that "how long she would stay in the race was an open question." And "top Clinton fund-raisers said that the campaign was all but over and suggested that she was simply buying time on Wednesday to determine if she could raise enough money" and win over superdelegates.

Another Clinton adviser told the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza "I believe there is no path to victory. I also believe she wants to see a Democrat win in November and she will do the right thing."

Writing on the HuffingtonPost.com, Lawrence O'Donnell reported that a "senior campaign official and Clinton confidante" told him "We will have a nominee by June 15," although the official couldn't bring himself to actually say that Hillary would drop out.

In an article posted on the BBC News web site, pollster John Zogby wrote that he expects Clinton "will find a way to get out of the race before the next primaries - so as to not hurt her future and to not be blamed for hurting Mr Obama and his chances in the general election."

Zoby notes:

• There really is no mathematical chance for her to win.
• Her campaign is virtually out of money - and it will be difficult for her to raise significant amounts of money after last night.
• Not enough happened [in the NC/IN primaries] to give her any hope, so continuing would only give the appearance of wanting to damage Mr Obama.

Meanwhile, the day after the North Carolina and Indiana primaries, the Obama campaign announced four new superdelegate endorsements:

• Jerry Meek, chairman of the North Carolina Democratic Party.
• Jeanette Council, a member of the Democratic National Committee from North Carolina.
• Inola Henry, a member of the national committee from California.
• Jennifer McClellan of the Virginia House of Delegates, who defected from Clinton's camp.

And the Associated Press reported on May 8 that former Edwards campaign manager John Bonior would endorse Obama.