If you believe in political omens (or at least find them interesting), here’s one that the media has mostly missed: In the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, one of the first-round matchups is between the two teams whose home arenas host the major party conventions this summer. The series ended last night, with the Colorado Avalanche (D-Pepsi Center) defeating the Minnesota Wild (R-Xcel Energy Center) 4 games to 2… unfortunately for me (because I’m a Wild fan), but maybe fortunately for whoever emerges victorious from the sordid mess the Dem campaign has become.

…it’s next to impossible for the Obama camp to argue that she shouldn’t take this all the way, as painful as that may be for the Dems. If she’s leading in national polls, especially once like Gallup, she still has a big stake in this thing.

The national poll has almost no meaning in a primary season that is almost at its end. The race is a little tighter? Nonsense. HRC has to win each remaining race by a 2-1 margin so she can significantly close the pledged delegate gap. That will not happen. At best she can pick up a net 8-10 delegates, which will be wiped out the following week in NC.

I have seen no one make a plausible case for how Clinton closes the pledged delegate gap; plausible being the operative word.

Clinton remains in the race only because she has THAT last name. No other candidate would be in the race after losing 11 straight states. The money would have dried up and the campaign dead. Bill Clinton is calling in his markers as a party elder.

What Obama does – again and again – is to respond to the allegations and pivot back to the issues. Obama was indeed tired and off of his game during the PA debate, and Clinton was on point – yet, my gut feeling is that Obama won more votes last night than he lost, because a weary Obama was far more compelling and far more presidential than an invigorated, desperate, and affected Clinton.

Clinton is playing the villain well so far. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like an act during the PA debate.

The Pennsylvania primary is less than 100 hours away. Let Clinton bring everything she has to this – which is to say, let her throw all the mud she can. We’ll see in 3 days who the mud is sticking to – and if Obama survives these Rovian, Atwater-style attacks, he will be a significantly stronger candidate. If he can rise above them, then he will be a truly great candidate.

I say let Clinton play the villain. Do we have a choice? She is staying in this race. Obama has bet his candidacy on the fundamental decency and good sense of the American people. And he’s gotten this far. I have hope that he can make it a bit farther.

The real risk is not to the party, but the Clinton legacy. Win or lose they have tarnished that reputation among a good portion of the Democratic party by making these scurrilous attacks on Obama.

Funny that Clinton is telling us not to throw our vote away on someone who is drawing crowds 10-50 times larger than herself.

The Clintons must really think we are stupid.