For whom the bell may be tolling.

THE TIMES HAS BEEN running a series of articles recently that suggest the Clinton campaign has been subtly closing up shop. They're sad articles, because they portray Hillary as a passionate candidate who, while ever realistic about her chances, remains deeply committed to the difference she could make in the lives of Americans.

The articles are especially heartbreaking because they remind me of women who strove mightily to achieve greatness, and ought to have won those achievements, but for whatever reason never quite did. Of course, they call into question Hillary's ability to be an effective, inspirational leader if she can't even convince her own campaign staff to tough it out and remain optimistic until the final act. And yet there's something about the whole situation that makes me want to donate to her campaign, to demonstrate my appreciation, if not necessarily my support.

Hillary's slow deflation doesn't make me any more excited about Obama. If anything, I've grown more disillusioned by his one note campaign over the past few weeks. As we've watched Hillary's slow fade, he's failed to step into the vacuum she's leaving, failed to inspire confidence in his ability to do anything more than simply provide some vague inspiration. I want as much as anyone for this country to be united, for us to move past the old divisions that hardened during the Clinton era, but the truth is that those differences don't simply disappear, and I'm not sure he has goals beyond redrawing the lines that divide us.

Hindsight is always 20/20, but it seems that one of Clinton's campaign's greatest failings was the sense of inevitability they injected into the race during those early months. You never really felt like you needed to get involved because the assumption was that she was going to win with our without you. To this day, I think Hillary supporters still believe Hillary will pull it out in the remaining states, that ultimately, they don't need to get involved because Obama's magic is sure to run out if she can just hold on long enough.