It’s all over for the Billary show…

So why does Hilary Clinton (and her husband) continue to fight for the Democratic nomination?

Without delving into the complicated system that is the nomination process, Senator Obama’s lead is insurmountable in terms of delegates – pledged and super. While he might not have reached the magic threshold number, Hilary can not catch up.

Senator Clinton, to her credit is still winning primaries. As recently as last week she won Kentucky with a whopping majority. But is this resoluteness a show of defiance or, is the former First Lady playing a tactical game for long-term advantage, ignoring the detrimental effect it is having on her party? Having already loaned her campaign somewhere in the region of £5million, and with a number of her campaign managers moving on, what is her motivation?

One line of thought is that she may well believe that the Democrats should be entitled to a choice. However, with the primary process already stretched over several months and, more importantly, the Republican nomination all but wrapped up, the hurling of insults between two Democrats hardly adds value to their cause.

The other line of thought – the more cynical one – is that by hanging in the campaign, she is intentionally doing as much damage to her opponent so that he loses in November, and she will have another chance in 2012. This is something that she would never admit to and would not go down well with the millions of Democrats.

For the one time front-runner who appeared to have the nomination wrapped up before it even began, she has fought a nasty campaign against a formidable opponent who has managed to fundraise like never before and energise huge numbers of voters.

When in Philadelphia, Clinton compared herself to Rocky. But now is surely the time for her to hang up the gloves.

Greg