The race goes on, toward the edge of the cliff

Hillary Clinton’s campaign of late has been all about creating doubt. She’s succeeded, but not in ways she intended.

Obama can’t put her down, can’t win big states. Fair enough. It’s also true that she can’t put him down, despite starting with seemingly insurmountable "inevitability." She won despite his money advantage. But despite all her negative attacks he cut her projected margin of victory in half or more. The Washington Post’s E.J. Dionne Jr. makes the interesting point that Obama’s personality — which Obama will voters see, Stevenson or Kennedy — is now a central part of the race. But Clinton’s base in Ohio and Pennsylvania make it clear that many white Americans won’t vote for a black man. I think that would have held even without the hyped Rev. Wright and "bitter" stuff. Many Clinton voters say they will vote for McCain instead of Obama if Hillary doesn’t prevail.

I think they’ll vote for McCain anyway. Hillary downed shots, talked of her fondness for firearms and threatened Iran with nuclear annihilation. She relentlessly portrayed Obama as an "elitist." With $100 million made since Bill left office, the Clintons are "just like us." But, as Harry Truman said, "If you give someone a choice between a Republican and someone who acts like a Republican, they’ll choose the Republican every time."

So I doubt Obama can win a general election. I doubt Hillary can. With the baggage of Bill and his squandered presidency, with her daughter working in the hedge-fund industry that destroys American jobs, I doubt her investment in real change. The only question is what will be left of the America I grew up in after four years of John McCain.