"Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton sat down for a quiet little chat..."

Breeze54

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Thu Mar-13-08 06:41 PM
Original message

"Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton sat down for a quiet little chat..."

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5izQosMtCfjNjE1uAP6fQV2BZ_qWwD8VCQCUO0">Candidates Return to Senate Day Jobs

By DAVID ESPO � 1 hour ago

WASHINGTON (AP) �

Suddenly, unexpectedly, they were together, in a place where aides dare not follow.

Eager to talk? Perhaps. Or maybe nowhere else to turn.

Whatever, Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton sat down for a quiet little chat
Thursday on the Senate floor, colleagues, as well as rivals in a historic race for
the Democratic presidential nomination.

She spoke animatedly, gesturing with her hands. He leaned in to listen, occasionally
nodding his head and replying briefly.

Her cell phone rang. But because life does not imitate campaign commercials,
it is not red, and on this occasion, evidently conveyed no news of a crisis.
She silenced it and slipped it back into her pocket.

After three or four minutes, he gave her a friendly pat or two on the back, a classic
senatorial gesture signifying nothing of consequence. They each smiled, and rose.

___

If anything of consequence was said, it may never be known.

Maybe they talked about airplane food.

Or perhaps that red phone campaign commercial she ran in the primary in Texas to call
into question his readiness to serve as commander in chief. Or their agreement, announced
during the day, to debate in Pennsylvania.

But instinctively, the rest of the room left them alone.

Normally, the Senate floor is a noisy, crowded precinct during a vote, senators milling
around, moving quickly from one brief conversation to another. But in this case, as if
by unspoken order, fellow lawmakers stayed well away from the two.

The only exception was Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota. Johnson has used a wheelchair
since suffering a brain hemorrhage more than a year ago, and happened to be in his chair
not far from where Clinton and Obama chose to sit.

Moving was out of the question. Instead, he stared intently at his Blackberry, manifestly
manifesting no desire to eavesdrop.

___

The occasion of their attendance in the Senate was an annual event in which dozens
of amendments relating to the budget are debated and voted on in a single day. Because the
Democrats control 51 seats, to 49 for the Republicans, controversial subjects can produce
close votes, and party leaders summon the presidential candidates back to Washington.

Not only Obama and Clinton, but also Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee-in-waiting,
was present during the day.

In fact, their presence resulted in a rarity at one point, a 50-50 vote on a procedural
motion that obliged Vice President Dick Cheney to break the tie.

McCain left early for a fundraiser in Philadelphia, with plans to return later in the evening.

And for all the campaign talk about differences on issues like health care and trade,
Clinton and Obama were in agreement on all the votes that came up during the day.

More...