Reading the Signs

Well, it may be that time. Thomas Edsall at HuffingtonPost.com reports that:

Hillary Clinton has summoned top donors and backers to attend her New York speech tomorrow night in an unusual move that is being widely interpreted to mean she plans to suspend her campaign and endorse Barack Obama.

According to Edsall, the two candidates spoke Sunday night and agreed that their staffs should begin negotiating "post-primary activities." Clinton reportedly wants Obama's help raising money to pay off her campaign $20+ million in debt, and in rehabilitating black politicians who endorsed her, and are facing challenges from pro-Obama opponents.

The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder reports that Clinton staffers and former staffers are being told to submit their expense receipts by the end of the week.

Politico.com's Ben Smith reports that advance staffers — the aides who arrange campaign events — are being sent home. The campaign says they haven't been told to find other jobs, just sent home because "We just haven't figured out our schedule past Tuesday."

Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun times notes that Obama and Clinton will both attend a Democratic National Committee event on Wednesday.

At CQPoltics.com Taegan Goddard has a concise summary