THE FINAL CURTAIN – AT 11:58 A.M. ET:  The group that has been trying to get Elizabeth Warren into the presidential race is closing shop.  This step would not have been taken without clearing it first with Warren.  She's apparently serious and absolute in saying that she will not run.  From Fox:

An effort to draft Elizabeth Warren into the 2016 presidential race plans to close up shop next week, acknowledging that the Massachusetts senator will not -- as she has repeatedly said -- seek the Democratic nomination.

MoveOn.org and Democracy for America said Tuesday they plan to suspend their Run Warren Run campaign on June 8. In their last act, they'll deliver a petition to Warren with more than 365,000 signatures urging her to run for president.

The groups said they had already influenced the economic debate in 2016 and want to focus their efforts on working with Warren on issues such as trade, including defeating the effort to give President Obama so-called "fast track" authority to complete the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.

"Even without her in the race, Elizabeth Warren and the Run Warren Run campaign she inspired have already transformed the 2016 presidential election by focusing every single Democratic candidate on combating our country's income inequality crisis," said Charles Chamberlain, executive director of Democracy for America.

Some of Warren's followers may back Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who is seeking the Democratic nomination and has offered an economic agenda in line with Warren's views.

COMMENT:  Warren knows that, if there's a crisis in the party, she could always be "drafted" later, although you kind of wonder who would want to draft as a bad a campaigner as Warren.  Right now, the choice she's made is sound.  She doesn't need enemies in the Hillary wing of the party, for she would need their support if she wants to run in the future.  She's 65, and perhaps she's looking at 2020, if Hillary is defeated. 

That leaves presidential giants Bernie (Lenin was cool) Sanders and Marty (Baltimore is a great place to visit) O'Malley in the race against Hillary.  It's possible former Virginia Senator Jim Webb will enter, and so might the very flakey Lincoln Chafee, former governor of the nephew of presidents, Rhode Island.  I don't see any of them defeating Hillary unless there's a massive new revelation or unless Hillary suffers a major health crisis. 

The Democratic Party is a mess, with a very thin presidential bench.  But Hillary could still win the election, a depressing thought. 

June 2, 2015