As campaign workers and supporters left the sports college in Manhattan, they were confronted by two camera crews from Japanese television.  The latter’s cheeky prank involved asking Clintonites to put a sticker on a board against the reason they believed best explained why their candidate lost.  The majority chose “She is a woman” - the loyal answer - but there were still some takers for each of “Obama is more charismatic” , “Attacked Obama” and “Cried in public”. Nobody went so far as to opt for “Negative personality”.  Julia Fuchs, a local campaign worker, refused to take part. “Because it’s not over. We’re going all the way to Denver,” she said.  “We’re going to find a way to make the popular vote count.”  It was a night of wishful thinking all round. The PA system pounded out hoary old rock and pop classics such as You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet, Ain’t No Mountain High Enough and Simply The Best. Supporters chanted “Yes she can” and “Yes she will”.  “Are you ready for the next president of the United States?” shouted Terry McAuliffe, her campaign chairman, as Mrs Clinton emerged to wild acclaim from the 500-strong crowd.  Most of her 25 minute speech was devoted to her achievements, albeit prefaced with some non-committal praise for Barack Obama - “It’s an honour to call him my friend”, she said - which made no reference to his crossing the delegate threshold.  Mrs Clinton finally turned to the big question. "A lot of people are asking, 'What does Hillary want?'" she said. "I want what I have always fought for: I want the nearly 18 million people who voted for me to be respected and heard."  "Now the question is, where do we go from here? And given how far we've come and where we need to go as a party, it's a question I don't take lightly. This has been a long campaign, and I will be making no decisions tonight," she told delighted supporters.  "In the coming days, I'll be consulting with supporters and party leaders to determine how to move forward with the best interests of our party and our country guiding my way."  Some were already trying to help her make up her mind. Lanny Davis, a longtime friend and former White House lawyer, said he was organising a petition to put pressure on Mr Obama to invite her to be his vice president.  "If he doesn't have her, I think he can still win. With her on the ticket, he can't be beat," he said.  Having come so far, many of those there seemed happy to hear that the towel wasn’t being thrown in just yet.  “Most people were really hoping the campaign would continue,” said Anna Salzman, a student. “I think Wednesday will be the deciding day.”  Like many in the audience she found it difficult to echo Mrs Clinton’s warm words for Mr Obama.  “If Hillary was with him, I’d support him. Without her - I can’t say,” she said.  Charles Rosen, an advertising executive, said: “I’m hoping that those of us who truly believe in Hillary will let our wounds heal.”  ”But at the end of the day we’re not party sheep and we don’t support Obama.”
Hillary Clinton might have refused to make any decisions last night but other    Democrats at her campaign party in New York were more prepared to grasp the    thorny issue of what went wrong.