Beyond the Dome

When congressional superdelegates talk about last night’s primaries, you get the sense that the race for the Democratic presidential nomination is at a tipping point.

Hillary Rodham Clinton and her campaign advisers are trying to describe her squeaker win in Indiana last night as a dramatic, come-from-behind victory. Her pollster, Geoff Garin, even tried to turn Barack Obama’s lopsided win in North Carolina into a victory, noting that Clinton had won the majority of white voters there after losing them in the Virginia primary.

But so far, the uncommitted superdelegates don’t seem convinced – and even a few of her own aren’t buying it.

“I don’t know if the fat lady has sung yet, but she’s clearing her throat,” Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio, a Clinton superdelegate, told me this morning.

Another longtime Clinton supporter, Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, looked glum. “I think it makes it tougher for Hillary,” he said. “The odds are more with Barack Obama right now than with Hillary Clinton.”

That’s a shame, he said, insisting that Obama once again failed to win crucial blocs of swing voters the Democrats would need against John McCain. “I think it’s a very strong case” for Clinton’s candidacy, he said. “Whether it’s persuasive to superdelegates is another question.”

This afternoon may bring further clarity to the situation, as team Clinton sits down for a meeting with uncommitted Hill superdelegates to press their case for continuing the race. As of this morning, they sounded like one skeptical audience.

“I think she’s earned the right” to continue the race, but “the mountain is incredibly steep right now,” said Rep. Jason Altmire of Pennsylvania, an uncommitted superdelegate.

Another undecided superdelegate, Bart Stupak of Michigan – whose vote would matter only if the Democrats decide to seat the disputed Michigan delegation – didn’t see last night’s results as decisive. But he said Obama “did even better than a lot of us expected” in Indiana, and was lukewarm about whether Clinton has a strong case for staying in the race.

"That’s up to Senator Clinton,” he said. Noting reports that Clinton loaned her campaign another $6 million last month, he asked, “If you stay in the race, how do you stay competitive if the money’s not there?”