If 48 months is a sensible amount of time for a car lease, than why not for a Plan B to win the White House? Currently Hillary Clinton's plan is to win PA, score an upset win in NC, win IN and hope that this late surge, along with more bad press for Obama, causes a huge number of super delegates to flock to her campaign, wreck Obama, and nominate her. It could happen, but it won't. The odds are ten percent at best and the problem with any scenario that nominates Clinton is that it also requires very rough treatment of Obama; featuring lots of sneaky double crosses and smoke filled rooms. That would cripple the Democratic party and hand the election to John McCain. While dreams may live on, the art of practical politics requires cold calculations about long odds and harsh realities.

So why not the 48 month plan? Hillary drops out now. She crowns Obama, to great cheers from the media and the party base. Let Obama, now rather brutally removed from Sainthood, go off and lose to McCain. Let McCain serve one term and then run against him in 2012 as the united pick of the Democratic party?

Sure it's hard to quit. Especially if you are a Clinton. And sure, nothing in the future is certain. But a Hillary Clinton basking in new-found "did the right thing" glory is certainly a better shot to ultimately win a Presidential race than a beaten and defeated spoiler finally forced out of the race after losing North Carolina and finally facing the loser's math in early May. Such beaten down goods are unlikely to rise again to seize the nomination in 2012.

Ask Rudy Giuliani. What would his political life be like today if he'd realized back in Florida that his chances were nill a little before it had to be proved to him and had then dropped out right after South Carolina to endorse John McCain? He'd be a major party kingmaker and VP contender now, not a has-been.