The Democratic National Convention is upon us, and tonight Hillary Clinton will address the crowd. What will she say?

She put up a long, hard primary fight and blew what almost everyone considered a lock for the nomination; she stands at a crossroads now, and none of the options look very good. She wants to be President, almost as badly as Bill Clinton wants her to be President. BUT...

I mentioned in an earlier post about a possibility for a last-minute Clinton move that could snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. The pieces are falling into place as I predicted:

• Barack Obama got the Florida and Michigan delegations full voting rights
• Obama picked Biden as his VP -- an establishment old white male (hardly indicative of "change")
• Clinton supporters are angry over his apparent dismissal of Hillary as a VP choice
• Hillary will be voted upon as a nominated candidate
  
• Bill got dissed in his speech topic (national security instead of the economy, which he believes he excels at)
  
• The vaunted Obama lead in the polls over John McCain has vanished

Her options at this point are few:

1. She throws full and active support behind Obama, and when he wins resigns herself to the fact that she'll never become President.
2. She throws half-hearted support behind Obama, and when he wins resigns herself to the fact that she'll never become President.
3. She throws full and active support behind Obama, and hopes he loses so she can run in 2012.
4. She throws half-hearted support behind Obama, and hopes he loses so she can run in 2012.

Well, #1 and #2 won't cut the mustard. As for the other two, hoping Obama loses is one thing but helping that happen with half-hearted support will royally piss off the Democratic Party, and she can kiss goodbye any election chances in 2012. That leaves #3, but it'll be hard to work hard for an outcome she doesn't really want.

The alternative to #3 is to pull off the Clinton Ambush. Convince her followers to vote for her nomination, while convincing a hundred or so superdelegates not to vote for Obama on the first ballot. That opens up the floor to the real question -- is Obama really best positioned to capture the White House and lead the country?

Both options -- work hard and hope he fails, or pull off the Clinton Ambush -- are fraught with peril. If she wants to be President, though, she'll need to make a hard choice. Still, making hard choices is the hallmark of a good President, isn't it?