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And he should urge her out for just as self-serving reasons as he urged her in.
Let's get something straight right now. Hillary Clinton can't win the nomination.
In fact, since her victories in Texas, Rhode Island, and Ohio, her task actually has become more difficult—370 delegates that were once up for grabs are now off the board, and given that she won so few net delegates (it'll be in the single digits), she'll have to win an even larger share of a delegate populace whose number is diminishing.
Presuming she were to run the table from now until June, when Puerto Rico casts the last votes in the primary, the best she can hope for is a pledged delegate tie with Barack Obama. She has to hope to convince a significant majority of the remaining uncommitted superdelegates to steal the nomination from Obama, overturning the will of the voters, despite his probable popular vote victory, his probable lead in pledged delegates, and his certain lead in the number of contests won. Because neither candidate can win without some superdelegate help, she would have to make this case for the three long months between the final contest and the convention. The only—only—way she wins the nomination is by spending those three months trashing Obama, squashing all of the hope out of his millions of supporters, and effectively demolishing the Democratic Party and handing the election to John McCain.
Perhaps, cynics would say, this is what Hillary Clinton wants. If she can't have the nomination, then no one else should either, and by denying Barack Obama the Presidency, she sets herself up for another run in four years. In that case, Senator Bayh has reason enough to call for her withdrawal simply to prevent an egomaniacal kamikaze mission that destroys both Clinton and the party that dare not nominate her.
But increasingly it looks as if Hillary Clinton is prolonging the campaign to force her way onto the ticket, yesterday taking a strikingly receptive tack on the question, saying on CBS that the so-called "Dream Ticket" may be "where this headed," adding, "of course we have to decide who's on top."
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That "dream" is Evan Bayh's nightmare, and indeed, the longer she is in, the harder it will be for Senator Obama to risk alienating her supporters by denying her the veep slot.
She's playing for second. Hillary Clinton is the new Evan Bayh.
Sure, Bayh can cloak his decision in terms of nobility. He can argue that for the sake of the party, Senator Clinton should step aside. He can cloak it in terms of personal concern, arguing that Clinton should concede for her own sake, ensuring her future as a leader in the party. But Bayh's decision doesn't have to be made personally in any such seemingly self-sacrificial terms. It can be, and for his sake should be, made entirely for self-serving reasons—an ironic end, no doubt, to the sycophantic beginning that was his initial endorsement of her in the first place.
One has to believe that Obama would prefer almost anyone to Clinton on the ticket, and he likely shudders at the possibility of his masterpiece movement of change being diluted by such an establishment, status-quo figure.
Yet Bayh's name continues to be circulated as a possible VP pick for both Obama and Clinton because of his perceived red state appeal, national security credentials, and his being a white male. And Obama's camp itself isn't likely to discount Bayh either, who though a supporter of Clinton has never engaged in the sort of incendiary race-baiting or personal attacks that other surrogates have. Obama supporters like Thomas Hamilton and Tim Roemer are also likely to vouch for him.
If Clinton waits until August to be forced out of the race, she'll get a spot on the ticket to salvage the party from destruction. If Bayh urges her out now, he not only salvages his own chances, but greatly enhances them, for an earlier-rather-than-later Clinton withdrawal allows Obama to pick someone other his New York rival with fewer November repercussions. What better pick than Bayh, which carries the added benefit of appearing to unify the party, joining Obama with a prominent Clinton supporter?
That support, perhaps in private 3 a.m. phone call, Bayh should revoke.
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