Clinton Camp: Hillary Will Not Concede This Evening

Statement from the Clinton Campaign

"The AP story is incorrect. Senator Clinton will not concede the nomination this evening."

This is what AP has reported today about Hillary Clinton.

Hillary Rodham Clinton will concede Tuesday night that Barack Obama has the delegates to secure the Democratic nomination, campaign officials said, effectively ending her bid to be the nation's first female president.

On NBC's "Today Show," Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe said that once Obama gets the majority of convention delegates, "I think Hillary Clinton will congratulate him and call him the nominee."

The advisers said Clinton has made a strategic decision to not formally end her campaign, giving her leverage to negotiate with Obama on various matters including a possible vice presidential nomination for her. She also wants to press him on issues he should focus on in the fall, such as health care.

Clinton was at home in Chappaqua, N.Y., with her husband, former President Clinton and daughter Chelsea. She was placing calls to friends and supporters and working on a final draft of her speech. She was also resting her voice, which was nearly shot after days of nonstop campaigning.

We did not quote the AP story in its entirety, but only the essential parts that we would like our readers to pay attention. In general Hillary Clinton's statement above goes pretty much in parallel with AP story, despite calling it "incorrect."

In the statement Senator Clinton's camp says that the Senator Clinton will not concede the nomination "this evening." Note the phrase this evening. It still leaves a door open to conceding the nomination tomorrow or the next few days. Or perhaps Hillary needs some time to concede in an accepted manner. To her credit I should say that this publication, admired her determination to fight to the end. Despite being an Obama supporter I would love to see Hillary Clinton fighting to the end. That's what the real democracy is.

The second thing we note in AP's report is that Hillary Clinton spends the day in New York and not in Montana or in South Dakota. What does this tell you? This tells me the level of importance that she is giving to Montana and South Dakota. Probably she has conceded in her mind already, so why spend extra money to be there today when the campaign is struggling financially.

I believe Hillary Clinton has conceded in her mind, but is not projecting it to the public yet.

We are set to follow some very interesting and historical developments in the next few days about concessions and nominations.