WP, pg1: Democrats Observe A Fragile Cease-Fire

[DeepModem Mom]

Democrats Observe A Fragile Cease-Fire
By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 20, 2008; A01

Sen. Barack Obama will return to Iowa tonight to celebrate another milestone in his long and sometimes bitter battle against Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who shows no signs of dropping her effort to convince party leaders that she would be a stronger Democratic nominee for president. But the reality is that both sides have declared an effective cease-fire as they prepare to bring the party together for a general-election campaign against Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

Obama (Ill.) has moved rapidly in the past 10 days to shift away from daily sparring with Clinton (N.Y.) and to begin a general-election debate with McCain that presents a fresh set of tests for his candidacy. His aides insist that he is mindful of doing nothing to suggest impatience with Clinton or to signal that she should end her candidacy before she is ready.

Clinton is soldiering on toward June 3 and the end of the primary season, and perhaps beyond, realistic about the seemingly insurmountable odds but far from giving up....But while she presses forward, aides say she is determined neither to be pushed from the race prematurely nor to be seen as doing anything to damage Obama's prospects of winning in November if he emerges as the nominee. Her campaign team believes that is the best way to bring the party together as quickly as possible once the nomination contest is over. Her advisers say that a major reason she does not want to be pressured out of the race is that she believes it will be easier to bring her supporters over to Obama once the primaries are over if they think she was able to finish the nomination battle on her own terms....

***

Since (Indiana and North Carolina), Clinton has made significant adjustments in her campaign, all designed to signal to Obama that she recognizes the reality of where the Democratic race is heading....

She has stopped running negative ads and, on the stump, has dramatically reduced her criticism of Obama. Last week, when President Bush made comments about appeasement that were seen as critical of Obama, she might have chimed in to say that she, too, disagreed with statements by the senator from Illinois that he was prepared to meet Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad without conditions. Instead she, attacked the president and McCain....One Obama adviser noted yesterday that she has stopped attacking Obama for opposing a suspension of the gasoline tax during the summer and that former president Bill Clinton, campaigning over the weekend, had talked more of party unity than the differences between his wife and Obama.

But from Hillary Clinton's perspective, the Obama campaign should return the favor by being as generous to her, and to her desire to keep going until someone has clearly gained the delegates needed to win the nomination....

Clinton's desire to finish the campaign in a way she is comfortable with may explain the pique with which her aides responded to reports -- overblown, according to Obama advisers -- that tonight's rally will become a victory party for the Illinois senator. Although the Democratic race appears headed for a predictable outcome, the next few weeks could determine how rapidly and fully the party comes back together. Clinton and Obama both have to play their parts carefully.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/19/AR2008051902737_pf.html

[JeanGrey]

1. It's A LIE SHE WILL NEVER GIVE UP OBAMA NEEDS TO

DUMP HER AND BE DONE WITH IT.