From today’s New York Times:
Mr. Obama called Mrs. Clinton late Tuesday evening to congratulate her, but aides said he left a message because he could not reach her. In his speech, his supporters cheered as he paid respect to his rival.
So much for picking up the phone at 3 am! For weeks, everyone had called on Hillary to make a clean, classy exit. If she stayed on, in the face of certain defeat, she’d do yet more damage to the Democratic Party. For her part, Hillary was having none of it. She lent herself a cool $6 million and bragged about a questionable popular vote victory until she lost her voice.
And after ignoring everyone’s pleas to pack it in, she’s earned accolades. People as unlikely as Victor Davis Hanson are now “impressed with her doggedness, stamina, and calm.” Moreover, Barack Obama (the Democratic nominee) called her (the loser) to congratulate her.
But while everyone is on the verge of forgetting exactly who Hillary Rodham Clinton is, I suspect she’ll remind them soon enough: She didn’t take Obama’s call. What kind of plan to nab the VP spot involves blowing off the gracious nominee at the apogee of his triumph? She has a plan, all right, and the vice presidency is one branch of the decision tree she’s considering. But she’s far from resigned to the electoral reality of the situation. Sure, Obama is the nominee-depending upon what your definition of is is. The web is astir with very nasty unsubstantiated rumors about a coming storm in the Obama campaign. If you think Hillary is not hanging in there to see if rumor becomes fact, I have a Bosnian sniper story I’d like to sell you.
