Pennsylvania could deliver death blow to Clinton campaign

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

That's the sound Hillary Clinton hears a lot these days as she waits for her presidential bid to implode.

No presidential candidate in modern U.S. history has had more going for her than Hillary Clinton. She raised more money than her rivals. She had name recognition and the political shrewdness of hubby Bill Clinton. The Democratic Party establishment was solidly behind her. The mainstream news media was behind her.

Hillary Clinton has been running for president since the Clintons left the White House in January 2001. The 2008 Democratic Party nomination was a formality. This was to be a coronation for Hillary Clinton. Too bad somebody forgot to the tell the voters.

Clinton's doomed quest for the White House will be studied in political science classes for decades.

With Tuesday's devastating losses to Sen. Barack Obama in the Potomac primaries (Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia), Clinton has lost to Obama in 20 state primary or caucus elections since Feb. 5.

Her delegate lead is gone. She's running out of money. She fired her campaign manager. It's no longer a political campaign. It's a death march. It's not only the number of states rejecting Clinton. Obama is now beating Clinton by a 2-to-1 margin in most contests.

Dick Morris, the former Clinton political adviser who has written entire books about how Hillary Clinton couldn't lose the 2008 presidential race, is now saying Mrs. Clinton is toast. "Hillary Clinton has blown an almost sure shot at the Democratic presidential nomination. Having surrendered the lead to Obama, she is not likely ever to regain it," Morris writes.

Wisconsin votes Feb. 19, followed on March 5 by Texas and Ohio, which are being billed as Hillary Clinton's "firewall." Pennsylvania on April 22 is the last big state left on the Democratic Party election calendar.

If Clinton loses either Texas or Ohio, Pennsylvania could end up driving the final nail in Hillary Clinton's political coffin.

If she wins both Texas and Ohio, Sen. Obama could take the race to the convention floor by winning the delegate-rich Pennsylvania contest.

That would put superdelegates like Gov. Ed Rendell in a tight spot. Rendell already endorsed Clinton, but what will he do if his state goes for Obama? Will he go against the will of the people or jump off the Clinton bandwagon, as so many established Democrats have done already?

Morris thinks the party elite, Rendell included, will run screaming from the wreckage of Clinton's failed campaign.

"The super-delegates will not be enough to reverse Obama's primary and caucus victories and they will run for cover and join the Obama bandwagon anyway," Morris writes.

A year ago, even a few months ago, nobody could have predicted the Keystone State would play a significant role in the presidential race. Gov. Rendell pushed hard last year to have the state primary moved up, but the state Legislature wouldn't budge. Sometimes the best move is the one you don't make.

The nominations were supposed to have been decided Super Tuesday, when voters in 24 states cast ballots. It worked out on the Republican side when Sen. John McCain emerged with a commanding lead in delegates, forcing his chief rival, Mitt Romney, out of the race.

But the Democratic race has not been following the script political insiders wrote for it. Clinton is in Texas, where she plans to make a last stand against the surging Obama. But you get the feeling she's about to re-enact the Alamo. And we all know how well things turned out for the people inside the Alamo.

A sweep of Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania is the only way Clinton can salvage the race. That scenario is unlikely. And even then, the loss of Clinton's armor of invincibility will have those superdelegates wondering if Clinton is electable in November against a maverick Republican who appeals to independents and Democrats.

How bad are things for Clinton?

I keep hearing Republicans in Pennsylvania are planning to change their party registration so they can vote against Hillary Clinton. Circle April 22 on your calendar. That could be the day the Clinton political dynasty comes to an end.