Hillary to concede, back Obama:

The former first lady told House Democrats during a private conference call Wednesday that she will express support for Barack Obama’s candidacy and congratulate him for gathering the necessary delegates to be the party’s nominee.

“Senator Clinton will be hosting an event in Washington, D.C., to thank her supporters and express her support for Senator Obama and party unity. This event will be held on Saturday to accommodate more of Senator Clinton’s supporters who want to attend,” her communications director Howard Wolfson said.

Not with a bang, but a whimper. Still:

An adviser said Clinton and her lieutenants had discussed various ways a presidential candidacy can end, including suspending the campaign to retain control of her convention delegates and sustain her visibility in an effort to promote her signature issue of health care.

The other options include freeing her delegates to back Obama and ending her candidacy unconditionally. The official stressed that neither Clinton nor her inner circle had decided specifically what course to take other than to recognize that the active state of her bid to become the nation’s first female president had ended.

Health care is probably going to be a signature Democratic issue anyway. And Hillary will wind up with some plum - if not VP, if not Supreme Court justice, something. The Clinton era may be over, but neither Clinton goes away. And that, probably, is as it should be.