...She would be required to close up shop and tell everyone to go home. I'm going out slightly on a limb, like many others, by predicting the end of her bid to become the Democratic nominee in all but name. The reason for this though isn't because of her more vindictive than ever attitude but because the people simply don't care for her now they've seen both sides of both arguments.

Latest polls are obviously starting to come in with more and more important data looking towards next weeks make or break primary session for the Democrats, and as I wrote earlier on this blog, the data has been looking worse and worse for Hillary. Just to remind you before you read on, Clinton really needs to win around 150 delegates from Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania...though ideally from Texas and Ohio alone to give her campaign a much needed boost. To do this she will have to win these large states by around 40 percentage points.

Trouble for Clinton comes in that she is sliding and sliding bad in both of these two states. She was 10 points up in the polls at the start of the year in Texas and over 20 points up in Ohio. Latest polls put her at 3 and 9 points ahead in Texas and Ohio respectively. In both cases her favour amongst the local voters has slumped to just 30-40% of what it was before Obama started actually winning and showing that he could win.

It goes without saying that these poll results are simply not conducive to getting back on level terms, let alone in the lead, next Tuesday alone. Even worse her Pennsylvania rating has halved for later on greatly reducing any chance of her being able to hold on for the final big state to get her out of this rut.

But what really shows how Clinton needs to wrap this campaign up now are the following recent poll results that show head-to-head ratings against McCain. Remember, ultimately this whole game is about winning an election for Presidency of the USA and so it is these state by state polls that really give us an indication as to who should is the front runner. All of the below are swing states, with the last years winner marked in the brackets.

• New Mexico (Rep) - With a significant Hispanic population...supposedly a demographic that Obama cannot win over...Obama has tied for popularity with McCain, but Clinton is 12 points BEHIND McCain in the same pollsters results.
• Iowa (Rep) - Obama significantly beats McCain here while Clinton loses to McCain. This is significant more so because Iowa was won by the Republicans last election by a small margin. It is states like this that the Democrats need to win to get power.
• Colorado (Rep) - Obama wins against McCain while Clinton significantly loses. Like Iowa this is important as Colorado was last won by the Republicans.
• New Hampshire (Dem) - Obama beats McCain by 11 points more than Clinton.
• Pennsylvania (Dem) - Obama beats McCain by 10 points while Clinton loses by 2 (within the error percentage). Note that this is despite Pennsylvania polls rating Clinton higher than Obama. Could it be that idealistically at party level people in these states like Clinton, but feel Obama will do better against the Republicans?
• Virginia (Rep) - Obama has 5 points more favourability than Clinton with the state, though is still 5 points behind McCain.
• Wisconsin (Dem) - Obama beats McCain while Clinton loses. As above this would be a suicidal situation if Clinton were to be voted in assuming current trends stick.
• Oregon (Dem) - In a state that looks very much like it could be a big battle to win, Obama just about ties with McCain, while Clinton loses by 8 points.
• Michigan (Dem) - Obama comfortably comes on top in this state while Clinton can't do more than tie with McCain.
• Minnesota (Dem) - Obama significantly beats McCain while Clinton loses by 5 points.

It is worth noting that it's not all plain sailing for Obama, though it is generally favourable. He has clearly done himself no favours in Florida (swing state) where both candidates are beaten by McCain, himself by much more than Clinton. Missouri and Ohio are also states where Democrats have a good chance of taking back from Republicans yet Clinton looks just as likely to be able to do that.

But truly interesting is the Obama effect on some states not yet deemed to be swing states. Kansas was a Republican win in 2004, and while McCain looks favourite to win it again Obama only loses by 6 points against Clinton's 24 point loss. Could it be that Obama can make a swing state out of places like Kansas while Clinton can not?

What is clear is that with Obama the public feel that they have a candidate that can regain some of the key swing states lost in recent elections, that can actually make a raid on some more Republican states. By contrast Clinton barely holds her own in states won by the Democrats last time round when up against McCain and shows little favourability to ever make a run on Republican states. It is for this reason, more than any residual marginality in the remaining race to be the Democratic Nominee, that Clinton should ring the bell and call time...she has simply lost currency with the people of America.