It's happening

Tomorrow's Wall Street Journal:

New Backing for Obama As Party Seeks Unity

By JACKIE CALMES, March 31, 2008

WASHINGTON -- Slowly but steadily, a string of Democratic Party figures is taking Barack Obama's side in the presidential nominating race and raising the pressure on Hillary Clinton to give up.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota is expected to endorse Sen. Obama Monday, according to a Democrat familiar with her plans. Meanwhile, North Carolina's seven Democratic House members are poised to endorse Sen. Obama as a group -- just one has so far -- before that state's May 6 primary, several Democrats say.

Helping to drive the endorsements is a fear that the Obama-Clinton contest has grown toxic and threatens the Democratic Party's chances against Republican John McCain in the fall.

I continue to believe that Hillary Clinton has every right to continue her campaign as long as she and her supporters desire.

At the same time, Barack Obama has every right to continue his campaign, and a big part of that is seeking -- and accepting -- the support of superdelegates.

The Clinton campaign spins this as calling on Hillary Clinton to withdraw, which is the height of absurdity. After all, she's the one with more support from superdelegates. She's the one who proudly announced the support of Jack Murtha last week.

So seeking support from superdelegates is fair game, and there's a huge difference between being asked to withdraw and losing a campaign.

And that's what's going on right now. Clinton is losing. She's not being told to quit, with very few exceptions.

It's up to her and her supporters to decide whether she continues -- but if she does, she needs to stop launching unprovoked personal character attacks on Obama. Challenging him on policy or the facts is one thing. But going after his former pastor is quite another. Moreover, to the extent that she continues to distort her own record to win votes, she had better be prepared to defend her claims.