Clinton has made the right call… so far

Interestingly, if the roles were reversed, and it was Obama trailing on the delegate front but in a position to win a long-shot chance at the nomination, the full-court press from the Clinton campaign would be much louder and much more aggressive.

The Obama campaign via surrogates has been quietly trying to put pressure on Clinton to get out. But they haven’t flexed the muscle I’m guessing the Clintons would have if their roles were reversed.

Obama’s camp has been hesitant to flex too hard in part because they fear if they try and fail, they may alienate too many of her supporters.

Still, imagine what the endorsement of 20+ superdelegates this week would have done for Obama’s aura of inevitability. Why didn’t Obama do this? Do they want to wait until after Pennsylvania so that if they keep it close, they use that as the pivot point? Or do they not have as many superdelegates in their back pocket as they’ve led some of us to believe?

Then there is the other shoe that could drop.

Clinton knows something else could pop up – another controversial issue.

Video Clinton on Obama's pastor March 25: Hillary Clinton takes questions from reporters during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania. MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell and NBC's Chuck Todd report. MSNBC

There will be a point where she could do damage to the party but we’re not there yet.

Possibly, the point is May 6, the North Carolina and Indiana primaries.

If Obama should win one of the two that day (North Carolina being the most likely), or if that’s Clinton’s D-Day and she fails to come through with a victory in either state – and she decides to drop out – she’ll still be leaving Obama plenty of time to focus on McCain.

As this campaign has proven, six months is more than enough time.

After all, Iowa was less than three months ago.

So Clinton will have a tough decision to make soon, but now is not the time.

Who knows, she may even win Pennsylvania big, and sweep the May 6 states, turning the conventional wisdom upside down.

Is it somewhat selfish and self-centered for Clinton to put her ambitions above the party? Of course. But believing you can lead the free world is the most selfish, self-centered thing to begin with.

Anyone who runs for president must have these traits.

It is the gene presidential candidates have that the rest of us don’t.

Picking the president: The candidates Click to visit that candidate's MSNBC page or click the XML symbol for an RSS feed. John McCain                Barack Obama

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