Editor’s Note: A report from our newest wOwer (soon to be officially announced) from the field.

He did it. He won. Barack Obama hit the magic number and Hillary Clinton did not — can not — now. But so far she hasn’t been able to bring herself to say so. One can only imagine what it feels like to have worked this hard for this long and to come to the end; to be surrounded by the faithful who have pinned their hopes and dreams on you — contributing time, money and heart to make it happen and then, gone. I know a lot of the people in the center of Clinton’s historic run for the White House and, this morning, they sound dazed. Then there are the 17 to 18 million people (depends on whether and how you count Florida and Michigan voters) who went to the polls and said they wanted her to be the next president of these United States.

Insiders say that Clinton herself is both exhausted and uncertain how she wants to proceed. She has told some close to her that the pressure on her is intense and that she has "earned" a moment of reflection before deciding whether to quit the race and how. Those arguing that she should stay in the race seem to have the slimmest of points this morning. Does challenging the way the Michigan delegation was seated really seem to have any legs at this point? I don’t think so. The party is moving on with Obama to the general election. In the hours to come — I would argue by Friday at the latest — she will have no choice but to congratulate him as the winner or seem terribly ungracious and divisive.

So why didn’t she do it last night? She probably should have. But she is exhausted. She is in mourning. She doesn’t want to make a mistake and there is much to consider. Not the least of which is money. Clinton has loaned her campaign $11.4 million dollars. No doubt she’d like to see some of that money again. What is the party — what is Obama willing to do to help her with this? It seems Obama is willing to help her on this front. He has asked her to meet with him. But so far she seems reluctant. They most likely saw each other today when both addressed AIPAC in Washington. But don’t look for any announcement from that.

Perhaps it is the other looming question she needs more time to consider: Does she want to be Obama’s vice president? Signals on this score are mixed. Many believe the duo would be better equipped to beat McCain in the fall, but most political analysts say nobody ever won (or lost) the presidency over his pick of vice president. And that is probably true. From Obama’s point of view there is also the "Bill" factor. It is one thing to have Hillary Clinton as your V.P. It is another to have a former president as her spouse. As Princess Diana once famously said about her marriage, "There were three of us in this marriage and it was rather crowded in there." You get the point.

Over the past year and a half I have interviewed Hillary Clinton five times, in depth, on the campaign trail — first in September of 2006 as she campaigned for re-election to her Senate seat and then from Iowa, Little Rock, Ohio and last month in Indiana.

Our conversations have been wide-ranging and extensive. And during the course of this time I feel I have had a chance to see Hillary Clinton in a unique way — in various situations, including alone with the cameras off. It gave me a more complex portrait of her, a woman who is disciplined, vulnerable, suspicious, passionate, reflective, funny and wise; someone you’d like to be able to take your shoes off with and have a nice long chat.