You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em.
Know when to walk away, and know when to run.
-- "The Gambler," Kenny Rogers' 1978 super hit)
IN an interview on Thursday, May 8, Hillary Clinton said: "Sen. Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and whites in both states (Indiana and North Carolina) who had not completed college were supporting me."
There are two problems with the statement. First, she implies that only white Americans are hard-working Americans, as though blacks and Latinos are not. Second, America is a racist country where whites will not vote for a black candidate.
Behind in all the measurable matrices -- pledged delegates, popular votes, and states won -- Hillary's only remaining arguments seems to be America's bigotry! It is never a good idea to want something too badly. Hillary wants to be the president so bad that she is in danger of embarrassing herself and her supporters.
Hillary's logic is as flawed as suggesting that since over 90% of blacks have voted for Obama in the primaries lately, those 90% will not vote for her in the general election, were she to be the nominee. Let us not forget that Hillary was winning more black votes than Obama in the beginning. Because of her and Bill Clinton's playing the race card, she has lost them.
Likewise, just as it is not inconceivable for Hillary to win back the black vote were she to honestly court them, it is not impossible for Obama to win the working class white votes in November was he to understand and address their concerns.
Working class whites tend to vote Republican in the general elections. Hillary will have just as much trouble winning them in a general election as Obama.
The last Democrat to win a majority of white votes in the general election was Lyndon Johnson in 1964. The South used to be solidly Democratic. When President Lyndon Johnson signed the landmark Civil Rights Act to help the blacks in 1964, he accurately prophesised that the South would be lost to the Democrats for generations.
Richard Nixon employed the "Southern strategy" to woo the Southern whites. Ronald Reagan completed the process of making the South solidly Republican. The recent winning Democrats, Jimmy Carter in 1976, and Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996, cobbled together a coalition of women, educated whites, blacks, and Latinos to win.
For the record, Obama won more white votes than Hillary in Iowa (by 6%), Illinois (by 16%), New Mexico (by 12%), Utah (by 15%), Virginia (by 5%), Wisconsin (by 9%), and Vermont (by 22%).
And Hillary received only 1% more white votes than Obama in Connecticut and the biggest prize, California. Therefore, to characterise Obama's coalition as "African-Americans and eggheads" is off the mark.
If white voters, who constitute 75% of the population, liked Hillary that much and voted for her in huge numbers, she would have won the nomination ages ago.
The writer listened in disbelief as commentator after commentator characterised Hillary's speech after her catastrophic loss in North Carolina as a concession speech. Nothing Hillary said sounded like a concession to the writer. She was feisty, promised full steam ahead for the White House, and had nothing gracious to say about Obama.
It now transpires that Hillary has no intention of quitting the race until the primaries end on June 3. It has now become a battle to win super-delegates (about 258 uncommitted are left) who now outnumber the pledged delegates to be won (217). Having lost by the existing matrices, Hillary is inventing new ones. In her pitch to the super-delegates, her only prayer, she now says she carried more districts Democrats need to carry in November. So, the primary process is of no consequence in Hillaryland. It is through the extraneous intangibles that Hillary wants to be handed the nomination Obama has won.
When Obama visited the Congress on May 8, he was treated like a rock star and was mobbed by fellow congressman and senators, many of them uncommitted super-delegates. When Hillary had visited them a day earlier, she walked out alone. Obama has almost closed the 100 plus gap that Hillary enjoyed over him with super-delegates and is about to take the lead.
Although every one thinks that the race is over (this week's TIME magazine cover says: "The winner is …" with a cover photo of Obama) Hillary does not think so. In her mind, she is by far the best candidate. She believes that America is about to make a grave mistake by taking it away from her. Since Sunday is Mother's Day, let us use a mother metaphor. The mother (Hillary), who has lavished so much affection on her daughter (America) cannot understand why her daughter would leave her for another man. The daughter (America) answers: "But, mom, I love him (Barack)!"
When Hillary Clinton questioned Gen. David Petraeus last September, she correctly argued that to believe his description of progress in Iraq required "a willing suspension of disbelief." After the Indiana and North Carolina primaries, the same now applies to her case for winning the Democratic nomination. With only 217 delegates up for grabs in the six remaining contests, the scenario for her victory has become far-fetched, fantastical and bizarre, and requires "a willing suspension of disbelief."
It is time for Hillary to turn on the Kenny Rogers' CD "The Gambler," and, paying close attention to his advice, finally fold her hand.

Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed is a Rhodes Scholar and Daily Star columnist.