Negative campaigning has shown how well it works. For Clinton to succeed, her campaign will have to stick to that strategy for many weeks to come. Even so, the math is really against her.

It's fair for Obama to finally face some of this. People need to see how he fares under pressure, as he would tested more severely by the Republicans in an election campaign in any case.

Florida and Michigan delegates are desperately needed by Clinton. Her spokesman is strongly arguing that Florida and Michigan deserve their chance to be heard, so there will be a big fight within the Democrats to get those states into the count — perhaps by rerunning those primaries.

None of this is good for the Democrats if it drags on acrimoniously all spring and summer into the convention. They will need to be unified, not bloodied, to decisively win in November. The winner is going to need the support of the loser's troops. There is some puzzling number of supporters on both the Clinton side and Obama side who have indicated they may cross over to McCain if their candidate loses the nomination.

I think the Democrats will have to consider how this process is working toward enhancing their election chances in November. Heed Nader's admonishment that the election is their's to lose.