The Clintons Will Not Go Quietly

Obama will win tonight; but the euphoria of the past few days will be impossible to sustain. It is inherently unstable. Clinton's naked appeal for sympathy yesterday may well rally some older female voters to her side. A victory for Obama in single digits is more likely than a blow-out. Then we'll have the Clinton campaign shake-up stories. Then she and her husband will unload whatever dirt they can on him - using the classic arms-length 527 Rove techniques. Then they will try to use their party muscle to intimidate Democratic loyalists to stay with the establishment in California and Florida and New York.

This is not over by any means. The Clintons have too much to lose and they have no scruples in fighting to keep their power. If they can destroy Obama, they will. His job is to stay calm, cool and determined. And all of it is good training for the fall. What we're seeing is if Obama can survive brutal attacks. It's a good system for testing future candidates. So far, he has shown he can out-organize, out-argue and out-fund-raise the Clinton machine. Can he now outlast their bile and rise above their anger? That we will soon find out.

(Photo: Terance Gallagher shows her support for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) January 6, 2008 in Manchester, New Hampshire. By Joe Raedle/Getty.)