The Speech- no. 1

Senator Clinton's concession speech given today is worthy of analysis for two reasons. First, it can be said to mark the end of the race for the nomination,. There it joins, among other milestones:

a)the declaration of Obama on June 10, 2008 that he will be the Democratic nominee, having amassed the pledges of a majority of delegates;

b)the close of the polls on 6/10/08 in Montana, the last of the states to vote (followed instantly by the projection that Obama had won the state);

c)the rendering of a decision- any decision- by the Rules and Bylaws Committee of the Democratic National Committee on apportionment of delegates from the Florida and Michigan primaries, which eliminated a potential rallying point for the Clinton forces at the upcoming convention in Denver (and, additionally, deciding Michigan, with the help of Clinton backers, favorably toward Obama)

c)the continued leeching of superdelegates from Clinton following the huge win first in Kentucky (on a night in which she lost in Oregon), then in West Virginia, confirming the insurmountable sentiment to block her nomination;

d)Obama's decisive victory in North Carolina (while he was narrowly losing Indiana), a state in which polls had indicated Clinton was closing and which would have become the first state (which became South Dakota, too late) Clinton would have won in which she was expected to lose.

The other reason the speech was so significant is that it will form the foundation of an effort by Mrs. Clinton, aggressively if Obama wins in 11/08 and passively if he does not, to capture the Democratic presidential nomination in 2012.