9:36 pm She's thanking all those wonderful little old ladies who came out to her rallies
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9:38 pm Still claiming the popular vote. "Election day after election day you came out in record numbers to cast your ballots, nearly 18 million of you cast your votes for our campaign carrying the popular vote with more votes than any primary candidate in history," she says. Crowd is chanting "Yes, she will! Yes, she will!" (Yes she will what? Be vice president? President is pretty obviously out of the picture.)
9:40 pm: Hillary says their bitter primary helped democracy. "Because we stood our ground every single citizen had a chance to make their voices heard," she says.
9:43 pm: "I've been standing for you and fighting for you my whole adult life...I will keep standing for you and continue working for you."
9:44 pm: "A lot of people are asking what does Hillary want, what does she want? I want what I have always fought for in this whole campaign. I want to end the war in Iraq, I want to turn this economy around, I want health care for every American, I want every child to live up to his or her god-given potential and I want the 18 million Americans who voted for me to be respected, to be heard and to no longer be invisible." Starts raising the profile on universal health care. Says she hasn't been fighting for this for the past 16 months, but the last 16 years.
9:47pm:Crowd is shouting "Denver! Denver! Denver!" I think the boy behind her is going to break down and cry soon.
9:49pm. The bomb. "I will be making no decisions tonight." She's asking people to go to her website, which her supporters recite on cue "HillaryClinton.com," and that she'll consult with party leaders, etc to see what is best for her to do next. I just went to her site to see if she's accepting donations. It's really, really slow. Is it getting crashed with traffic?
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9:52pm: Ends with a story about a woman she met in South Dakota yesterday. The woman grabbed Hillary and asked her what Hillary is going to do to make sure she gets health care. The women suffers from seizures, works three jobs and can't get insurance. "It is shameful that anyone in this country could share this story with me," Hillary says. She's keep the woman in mind with "whatever path I choose next."
9:54 pm: Brit Hume is hilarious. "Whatever that was, it was not a concession speech," he deadpans as she walks off-stage.
Aftermath: The MSNBC guys are saying this is all about getting leverage for the VP slot. Russert reports a very reliable, high-level Clinton source told him she WANTS to be VP.
Questions are reeling in my head. How can this be true. Why would Obama do this? What leverage does Hillary really have? Does she really have the power to make her supporters stay home and not vote for Obama or against McCain? What does Obama get out of the deal? Seems like all he'd get is her baggage and campaign debts.
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