Downtrodden Clinton Aides Grasp at Fla., Mich. Straws

Last night’s primary disappointments have Hillary Clinton's aides skeptical about their candidate’s chances, the Washington Post reports. Advisers say their only hope is a last-ditch push to include results from Florida and Michigan. “Absent some sort of miracle on May 31st, it’s going to be tough for us,” said one senior official. “We lost this thing in February.”

Clinton and her surrogates have already stepped up the Florida-Michigan rhetoric. “It would be a little strange to have a nominee chosen by 48 states,” she said in her speech last night. Earlier she told reporters those contests were “legitimate elections.” Her aides also continued to push the electability argument, even warning of an “October surprise” that could derail Barack Obama. (More Clinton 2008 stories.)