Party's over. Easing the last guest out the door.

Behold these case studies of clinical denial...

Britney Spears, last December: "My sister's not pregnant."

John McCain, in January: "Any recession is psychological."

Hillary Clinton, last night: "I win, he wins. I win, he wins. It's so close!"

That's from Dick Polman at the Philadelphia Inquirer today. 

It would be smarter to cool it and not push Hillary out unceremoniously.  Wiser heads are pointing to a gradual removal.  She knows she's lost.  We know she's lost.  The party knows she's lost.  The party is working on easing her out the door in a way that won't weaken Obama's candidacy and won't weaken her prospects as a political force in the future. 

If Hillary were to get a shove out the door today and then went on to win in West Virginia next week, the result would weaken Obama.  Not because she has any chance of winning the nomination, but because of the timing.  Let her win West Virginia and then gradually dismantle what one Dem advisor pointed out is a vast $200 million campaign organization.

But the CW is:  the party's over for Hillary.  Obama has it.  There's no way Clinton can get the delegates she needs.  No more rancor or doubt.

Let's hope they're right.

Later ... Lawrence O'Donnell, political analyst and Clinton buddy, pretty much confirmed on a talk show this morning that Clinton is preparing her way out.  The idea will be to run the rest of the campaign as a much friendlier candidate, put her case to the superdelegates in June, and be outta there by mid-June having regained her earlier reputation for being a decent human being.   O'Donnell has written a piece for the Huffington Post.