For a long time now, the writing has been on the wall. But Hillary Clinton, for some reason, has proved unable to read it. If it’s not myopic dyslexia that she suffers from, then it must be dyslexic myopia. She’s been stupidly stubbornly shortsighted.

For a long time now it’s been abundantly clear that, given the numbers — and all the twaddle about Florida and Michigan delegates notwithstanding — the probability of Clinton overtaking Obama in terms of pledged delegates or total delegates or the popular vote was exactly zero.

Here’s the delegate math at this point: with 217 pledged delegates still up for grabs and 267 superdelegates still uncommitted, Obama leads 1588 to 1422 in terms of pledged delegates, and 1845 to 1693 in terms of total delegates. To take the pledged delegate lead, Clinton would need to win 192 of the remaining 217 delegates (88%). That couldn’t be happening even in Hillary Clinton’s dreams.

If we generously assume that Clinton and Obama split the remaining 217 pledged delegates (and go ahead and give the tie-breaker to Clinton), then Obama would need only 67 of the remaining 267 superdelegates (25%) to get to 2025 total delegates and clinch the nomination, while Clinton would need 218 (82%). Once again, that’s fantasyland for Clinton.

Until this morning, though, the media and non-partisan bloggers have largely been content to play along with the Clinton campaign, and refrain from pointing out that she really didn’t have a snowball’s hope in hell of taking the nomination. Not by fair means, not even by marginally foul means.

And while Obama won North Carolina by a bigger margin than expected (14.7% compared to the consensus forecast of 8%), and Clinton won Indiana by a smaller margin than expected (1.8% compared to the consensus forecast of 5%), last night’s results were broadly in line with expectations. Yet, somehow, these just-as-expected results have led to some very blunt talk about how Clinton is now done, even if she continues to cling to her myopic dyslexia. And this blunt talk has been surprisingly widespread.

There was Tim Russert on MSNBC last night:

We now know who the Democratic nominee is going to be, and no one’s going to dispute it…
[...]
Their ability to raise money after the events of tonight – it’s going to be very difficult. As opposed to what happened after Pennsylvania, when money roared in, because people saw a realistic chance. That no longer exists. They know it, Obama knows it, and the voters … now know it, as well…. She has some real soul-searching to do. And those closest to her will give her a hard-headed analysis, and if they lay it all out, they’ll say, ‘What is the rationale? What do we say to the undeclared superdelegates tomorrow? Why do we tell them you’re staying in the race?’ Tonight, there’s no good answer for that.

There was the press release put out by Service Employees International Union (SEIU):

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

OBAMA: CLEARLY THE PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE

SEIU Calls for Democrats to Unite Around Obama
“Senator Obama’s commanding win in North Carolina and close showing in Indiana means he is clearly the Democratic nominee for President,” said Anna Burger, SEIU Secretary-Treasurer. “We’ve had a long process and the outcome is now clear. The Democratic Party should come together to focus on winning in November.”

There was the Clinton insider who told the WP:

We lost this thing in February. We’re doing everything we can now . . . but it’s just an uphill battle.

Here’s Mark Halperin‘s summary of the media reaction:

ABC’s “Good Morning America”: “End of the Road”

NBC’s “Today”: “Is it Over?”

CBS’ “Early Show”: “Obama’s Big Night”

NBC: Russert repeated his Obama-is-the-nominee line, but hung it on “objective Democrats” rather than his own judgment. Of insiders, said “the obstacles are overwhelming, and they know it.” Russert suggested Obama would help Clinton retire her campaign debt (and pay off Mark Penn’s bills) as part of an exit deal.

Andrea Mitchell: “She is ready to give up.” Cited Ed Rendell as the kind of supporter who might ease her out.

ABC: Stephanopoulos said despite the race going on “this nomination fight is over,” Obama’s lead “can’t be overcome” in elected delegates. Says she’s depending on Oregon, seating full delegations of Michigan, Florida and a “revelation” on the scale of another Rev. Wright controversy to see any sort of comeback.

CBS: Schieffer said the race is “basically” over, question is whether this “demolition derby” continues where they are fighting each other. Suggested dream ticket as a solution. Said she’s meeting with advisers Wednesday, there will be increased pressure on her to drop out.

There’s no doubt that the media narrative has suddenly shifted. That can only make it harder for Clinton to go on ignoring the writing on the wall. Then there’s also the campaign’s money woes. Maybe the lady will end up making an exit after all. (I was about to say “graceful” exit, but after the campaign she has waged the last few weeks, it’s hard to attach the word graceful to expected campaign behavior by her.)

*** Update, 9:25 am ***

Americablog, last night:

We’ve just been told that General Wesley Clark, a strong Clinton supporter and fellow Arkansan, called Hillary tonight to tell her it’s over.

(Clark denied this and AmericaBlog updated their post. – Matt)

AP:

Former Sen. George McGovern, an early supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton, urged her to drop out of the Democratic presidential race and endorsed her rival, Barack Obama.

NYT: Pundits Declare the Race Over

Very early this morning, after many voters had already gone to sleep, the conventional wisdom of the elite political pundit class that resides on television shifted hard, and possibly irretrievably, against Senator Hillary Clinton’s continued viability as a presidential candidate.