That startling photo is from the New York Times.
Politico puts it this way:
Concerned about appearing presumptuous or antagonistic towards Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama will not declare victory in the Democratic nomination fight Tuesday in the event he wins enough pledged delegates to claim a majority.
Rather, he’ll tiptoe right up to the line, without explicitly asserting the race is over.
While it may sound like an exercise in hair-splitting, the conscious decision not to declare victory is a revealing measure of the sensitivity surrounding overtures that appear to disrespect Clinton and her supporters.
It’s also a reflection of the Obama campaign’s supreme confidence in the delegate math at this juncture—the campaign now appears secure enough in its commanding position that it no longer feels compelled to declare victory in an attempt to marginalize Clinton.
The photo accompanying the Politico article makes the truth of the situation even clearer:
Feh. Obama just can't close the deal.
Posted by: lambert strether | May 19, 2008 at 12:21 PM
Right! You can tell from those photos that it's all a media hoax and he'll never get the popular vote.
Posted by: PW | May 19, 2008 at 01:33 PM
Please... those are the cardboard cutout people rented out for 12 bucks a day. Obama is a fraud.
Posted by: Hanna | May 19, 2008 at 01:52 PM
That's fantastic! At 80,000 people estimated to be in that crowd at $12 a day, that's $960,000! I could live on that for almost a week! Still, $12 per person is still cheap when you consider they also ...
Posted by: PW | May 19, 2008 at 02:28 PM
move, talk, and wave their hands.
Anyone know where they get cardboard like that?
Posted by: PW | May 19, 2008 at 02:35 PM
How'd the Decemberists do? Did he sing the national anthem of the USSR. No, No. I don't mean the band
Posted by: TLM | May 19, 2008 at 03:12 PM