It's Over (they cautiously said.)

Well, apparently Hillary Rodham Clinton has been dragged, kicking, screaming and clawing, off the campaign stage.

News reports that over 20 Clinton supporters in the House first had a conference call with her to explain to her that she can't afford the luxury of waiting around until it "feels right" or whatever she was waiting for.

Then even more pointed, apparently some of her own top campaign aides reached out to Clinton supporters in the Senate, and eventually 6 of her top senate partisans joined in on what seems like an intervention to try to talk her back down from the ledge.

They apparently prevailed upon her better instincts and shortly after, the campaign announced that Hillary intended to draw her campaign to a close, or at least to suspend it, and to congratulate Obama on securing the nomination. This is to occur Friday, as of now.

Well, that's all good news. But with the way Clinton has always zigged when nearly everyone expected her to zag, I think people won't believe it until they see and hear it.

It's a shame that Clinton's actions Tuesday night essentially robbed me the ability of feeling a large degree of admiration and respect for her as she withdrew.

Of course she deserves great props for her truly great accomplishments, but it was so sour and, well, sort of creepy at the end, that it really poured cold water on what could have and would have been the perfect time to cash in on the resevoir of good feelings all Dems still might have had towards her.

It seems particularly crass that Clinton called on her desperately loyal fans to go to her website on the premise that she wanted them to tell her what they wanted her to do (now that she'd absolutely lost the nomination.)

Of course this was a cynical scam to get the most loyal die-hard supporters to go there and fork over yet more money. It's reported that when you went to HillaryClinton.com, the only choices you had were to either check a box urging her to press on and essentially make a scene at the convention, or donate some bucks in a show of support. If you felt she should cut her losses and conceed, there wasn't any way to indicate it.

What a truly icky and regretable way for someone who looms as large and has played such an integral role in American policial life of the last few decades to leave the stage of this race.

Of course, the moment will come where she's hailed as the formidable opponent and incredibly tough campaigner that she was, but it's like a musician playing an incredible 4 hour piece of music, then suddenly stopping just a few minutes from the crecendo and finale.... then coming back a day or two later to play the ending.

Somehow it's just not the same.