Nerves (with Updates)

Today the mediageist is hesitating, suggesting that maybe this nomination thing is going to continue past June 4, but still be over by June 15, or June 30. The Clinton campaign sending signals that it is planning beyond June 3, which could be gamesmanship to not discourage its voters from voting in the upcoming primaries. But they could be serious.

The unknowns involve how much bigger the magic number will be after Saturday. Chuck Todd writes that in the plan that seems to have the most support at the moment, it would turn out to be 2118. How quickly Obama gets to that number depends on delegate allocation, the results of the primaries and how successful the Obama campaign is in getting super-delegate committments for June 4 and 5. Their aim likely is to run up the score to 2210 as soon as possible, because that would be the magic number if all the Florida and Michigan dels were fully counted, and therefore a convention challenge to the Rules committee solution would be useless to Hillary.

The question still seems to be when and if Hillary will concede and end all doubt. There is growing noise that not to do so by June 5 would severely damage her political future.

Chuck Todd suggested that a little persuasion by the triumverate of Al Gore, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid would more or less force her out. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi told the SF Chronicle that she would step in to help resolve the nomination question if it's not resolved by the end of June. Update: Harry Reid is on board as well.

On the other hand, it still could be over on June 4. Rep. James Clyburn, member of the Dem House leadership and a S.C. super-delegate, announced he will endorse on Tuesday. That could be a signal. As today's statements by Pelosi and Reed (see update above.)

With no reliable polling, the South Dakota contest on Tuesday is expected to be close, with Obama having the edge due to organizational advantages.

Roger Simon has a funny column at Politico about the drama gap between the Hillary and Barack campaigns.

With one super-del today so far, the current Obamagic number is 44.

UPDATE: AP reports further: Top Democratic leaders intend to push for a quick end to the battle for the presidential nomination when primaries are over next week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday, adding that he, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and party chairman Howard Dean will urge uncommitted delegates to choose sides. "By this time next week, it will all be over give or take a day," Reid said of the marathon race between the front-running Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Democratic officials said Pelosi already has begun contacting uncommitted House members urging them to weigh in soon after the primary season ends. Numerous Democrats have expressed concern that a protracted nominating campaign could harm the party's chances of winning the White House in the fall. John McCain effectively wrapped up the Republican nomination in March."

Another story suggests that the Clinton proposal faces "tough, if not insurmountable odds" at the Rules committee meeting Saturday, but that the Clintonistas plan to appeal an adverse ruling to the Credentials committee (which others said is unlikely to succeed) and then to the convention.

Putting these two stories together, the outcome could be that Obama passes all the magic numbers next week, Clinton suspends her campaign but doesn't concede, or she neither suspends nor concedes--and the party essentially ignores her. The danger for her is that they will keep ignoring her for the rest of her career. If Obama wins in November, she'll be the sore loser. If Obama loses, she'll be blamed.

Update on Delegates: score one more for Obama. Current Obamagic Number: 43.