Political commentators watching the US presidential race are all atwitter about whether Hillary Clinton is preparing to finally withdraw from the race for the Democratic nomination (See today’s special Blogwatch roundup of the speculation here). Obama’s in a bit of a tough spot — he needs to decisively beat her to the nomination, while appeasing her support base. Can he pull it off?

Obama plays nice with Hillary. Perhaps with an eye for the end game, Barack Obama has publicly congratulated Hillary Clinton, and took a meeting with her over the weekend. Looks like he’s seeking to make the end of the race a clean on and keep her onside as a possible ally, if not running mate. Mind you, not everyone’s willing to give Hillary that easy a ride. As the Jack and Jill Politics blog put it: “Senator Obama, just shut up about Hillary… Stop all the fussing about being willing to work with this heifer.” — Jack and Jill Politics

Undecided delegates heading to Obama? The Daily KOS links to a report on CNN Politics which claims that “Most of the seventeen Democratic senators who have remained uncommitted throughout the primaries will endorse Barack Obama for president this week”. The Daily KOS crunches the numbers and predicts that “ the floodgates will open, ensuring that Obama takes the stage with a comfortable delegate victory. Not only will it validate his declaration, but it will allow the networks the theatrics of a “Obama wins the nomination” announcement.” — Daily KOS

What Barack did next. If Obama has made it through the first trial by fire, his next task will be to win over the ranks of fuming Clinton supporters, according to one of The Guardian’s blogs. This sentiment is echoed in The American Spectator, in an article called “Crone Wars”, which says “as they’ve watched their girl get shoved aside by the brash Obama and his youthful cohorts, Hillary’s army of liberal crones has become increasingly embittered toward the Democrats. That bitterness erupted like a volcano of venom Saturday, when some of Hillary’s supporters were manhandled out of the ballroom at the Washington, D.C., hotel where the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee was meeting.”  — The American Spectator

McCain’s rein of error. The Dems continue to hog the press coverage, but one commentator says that’s working in McCain’s favour. “It’s lucky for John McCain that most politically-aware Americans remain riveted by the Hillary Clinton sideshow (more on that later), because he continues to make inexplicable factual errors without any willingness to acknowledge them. If more people were paying attention, they might well wonder whether this guy is as sharp about foreign policy as he purports to. — Dick Polman’s American Debate