Via the NYT: Clinton to End Bid and Endorse Obama

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton will endorse Senator Barack Obama on Saturday, bringing a close to her 17-month campaign for the White House, aides said. Her decision came after Democrats urged her on Wednesday to leave the race and allow the party to coalesce around Mr. Obama.

Howard Wolfson, one of Mrs. Clinton’s chief strategists, and other aides said she would express support for Mr. Obama and party unity at an event in Washington that day. One adviser said that Mrs. Clinton would concede defeat, congratulate Mr. Obama and proclaim him the party’s nominee, while pledging to do what was needed to assure his victory.

Interesting. I figured that surely she wouldn’t wait too long before reality set it. And as I noted last night:

I think that Clinton risks her power within the party if she plays this incorrectly, and I think she is smart enough to know that.

I could see nothing useful in her pretending like there was still a contest. Still, from Tuesday to Saturday has to be the biggest gap between loss and concession speech in the media age.

And I found this amusing:

“We pledged to support her to the end,” said Representative Charles B. Rangel, a New York Democrat who has been a patron of Mrs. Clinton since she first ran for the Senate. “Our problem is not being able to determine when the hell the end is.”