Hillary Clinton Maximus Decimus Meridius

"You simply won't die" declares Emperor Commodus to Maximus on the floor of the Colosseum, where the former general to Marcus Aurelius has emerged victorious in the deathly games.

After last night's Hillary Clinton squeaker in Indiana, the press and the blogosphere are outraged this morning, like Commodus, declaring incredulously "You simply won't die."

That's Hillary's neverending campaign, of course. It just keeps going, and going, and going...

Ann Althouse, reacting to the New York Times' editorial calling for more debate on the issues, cries, "I wish they'd say why there's reason for her to continue instead of pretending there are some issues that could be emphasized and sharpened!"

What's next for Clinton? Exploiting party rules to keep hope alive!

The Los Angeles Times lays out the details of Clinton's "nuclear option":

Tuesday's voting in Indiana and North Carolina put Hillary Rodham Clinton no closer to overtaking Barack Obama on the path to the Democratic presidential nomination. That now leaves Clinton with one overriding task: to make the path longer.

For most of the year, June 3 beckoned as the end of an exhausting nominating calendar, the day that the final states hold primaries to choose between Clinton and Obama. But now, Clinton is preparing to push the contest beyond the voting phase of the process and into the realm of committee meetings and credentialing rules, where her campaign believes she may have a chance to overtake Obama before the party's nominating convention in late August.

For voters who are weary of the contest -- and for the growing number of Democratic leaders who say the ongoing duel is damaging the party -- Clinton's course means continued uncertainty over whether the party can unify to focus on beating presumed Republican nominee John McCain.

Tuesday's voting all but ensured that Clinton, who shows no signs of giving up and vowed in her Indiana victory speech to go "full speed on to the White House," will now try to lengthen the nominating process.

There's some speculation that Clinton's cancelling of morning talk show appearances is a sign of desperation, or of reassessment.

But whatever's the case, Hillary's making some of the biggest decisions of her long campaign today.

Is she out?

"Not yet, not yet," as Juba would say.