She ran a good race. She outlasted most of the large field of contenders. She just couldn't catch up to him in the end. She wound up pushing too hard and hurting herself. She ended up being put down by the very people who had worked so hard for her for so long.

That is how the Eight Belles story ends.

Ever since Hillary Clinton opened her mouth while the votes from Lake County, IN were still MIA, I have been thinking about this year's Kentucky Derby and its tragic conclusion. With all the talk about the "horse race" between Obama and Clinton, it was an easy connection, I suppose. There is a valuable lesson for Mrs. Clinton in the tragic fate of Eight Belles, but it appears that Clinton is willing to risk the same figurative fate.

I want to interrupt the flow here to stress that I am speaking metaphorically and NOT suggesting that Hillary should die. It should be obvious enough, but I think it worth emphasizing just to be perfectly clear.

Hillary Clinton has come in second. Is she going to finish this thing up with dignity or is she going to push things too far and damage herself politically and permanently? Her bluster Tuesday night after getting steamrolled in NC and barely pulling out an Indiana which played to her demographic strengths indicated that she was willing to lose it all to keep reaching for something that she can't have. Wednesday saw her push further and make her last big call on the superdelegates. Thursday, in her deseration, she went too far. The comment referenced here is not the only one she made today about how she was winning with white people. She has hurt herself now.

It really doesn't matter at this point if it was part of a calculated scheme to marginalize Obama as "the Black candidate" or a stupid mistake made out of desperation, not ruthlessness. The simple fact is that Clinton stumbled BADLY today.

Now comes the moment of truth. Does she see how much damage she is doing and ease up? Does she take the time to consider the long term consequences of the path she has chosen? Or does she push on, hurting herself more and more? Will she go so far that she has to be politically put down for her own good? Is she willing to do irreparable damage to her career to push for a goal that is, by all conceivable measures, out of reach?

Today hurt. Tomorrow could be devastating if she keeps it up. Right now, she can survive with some serious political rehabilitation, but tomorrow she may do permanent damage.

For the first time this primary season, I find myself mostly agreeing with a Joan Walsh column.

I was going to point out where I differ, but deleted the whole paragragh I had written. The important thing now is to focus on where we agree.

Hillary Clinton made a mistake Tuesday night with the first words out of her mouth. She put herself in an awkward position when it turned out that the close race was nearly a photo finish and the NC contest just kept getting more bleak for her. After such bluster, it is more difficut for her to gracefully exit the race anytime soon. Her actions since then have been less than encouraging. Her comments about whites may not have been intended the way they sounded, but it was a huge snafu at best.

I believe that the so-called "Super Friday" that Obama experienced was at least partially a result of Hillary's "white people love me" Thursday. A lot of the superdelegates are watching this thing closely and trying to give Clinton time to make a graceful exit. But if she goes negative against the likely nominee again, i think we will see their patience wear thin. They don't want to humiliate her or damage her politically, but the democrats cannot afford to lose this election in the fall and will make the move that they have been dreading.

I have seen some positive signs that the Clinton camp knows the score and is looking for a suitable endgame, but I also saw her spokesperson say that the battle would coninue until one of the candidates had 2209 delegates. 2025 is, of course the commonly accepted number. Once the nominee is settled, Florida and Michigan will be dealt with and not excluded from the convention. It only makes sense. (Personally, I feel that the super-delegates from those states should NOT be seated. It was the political leaders in those states that created the situation to begin with. There should be consequences for it.)

Someone near Clinton needs to give her a serious reality check. Remember her fake outrage over the "pimped out" comment (which was a proper use of the word, if unfortunate due to common use of the word)? Who is hurting Chelsea now? I always expected Chelsea to have a successful political career one day. Will she instead be remembered as the one calling the superdelegates and urging them to ignore the will of the people? If Hillary continues to attack Obama, will some of the fallout taint Chelsea? I know that this is her Mom, but she is a 28 year old woman and is capable of saying, "I love you Mom. I think you are the best choice. I will campaign my heart out for you, but I won't be your liason to the superdelegates trying to convince them to ignore the voters." The next few weeks, Hillary Clinton's choices will have a much larger effect on her political future, and potentially her daughter's, than they will on Barrack Obama.