John Fund: What if a committee of prominent Dems approached Obama and asked him not to run?

Hot Air  "Note that [John] Fund’s not talking about a primary challenge here; that would alienate black Democrats and the party would fracture before the general election, so it’s not an option. The only way to dump him and hold the base together would be if he agreed to step down after Democratic chieftains privately appealed to him to do so."....

"Exit question: Would this “voluntary” refusal to run again really prevent a Democratic schism? Some black Democrats would surely conclude that it wasn’t as voluntary as it seemed. And they’d be right."

ChiTrib editor: Say, maybe it’s time for Obama to withdraw from 2012  "It’s one thing for John Fund, Allahpundit, or me to speculate on whether Barack Obama will bother running for a second term.  It’s another when one of the editors of a home-town newspaper tells a President to pull out.  Stephen Chapman of the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board writes in today’s paper that it’s time for the battered champ to hang ‘em up:"