Unity, Oh Unity. Has Harrogate seen unity?

Unity the tattooed lady (Marx Brothers or The Muppets is the question...)

Senator Obama and Senator Clinton had their first date tonight, before the big date tomorrow. Awkward....., especially when you fight over who pays for whom, who will work for whom, who gets to speak when and where, and who will be the Vice-Presidential nominee in 2008.

In Washington, D.C. Senator Obama met with the big money donors of Senator Clinton and it was "emotional and upbeat." Or, according to ABC, the mood was "strained but supportive." Two other unnamed sources stated that the event seemed like "an Irish Wake" and Obama "better go back to the internet." A few mentioned that he did well at the event and warmed over some fundraisers but why go there but the general consensus is that the tension between the two, and their fundraisers, will make relations almost unworkable.

Such warmth and happiness....

Let us, all night and all day, join together spiritually and symbolically as Senators Obama and Clinton join together near-physically in Hope,... er, I mean, Unity, N.H. where the two combatants tied during the primary back in January.

Senator Obama received his biggest cheer when he stated he would step down as the nominee.... er... I mean would help Senator Clinton pay off her campaign debt from the Democratic primary. During the remainder of the event, he faced, as he expected, the Spanish Inquisition, and he did not even receive the comfy chair. (Or, if you don't care for the Brits, here is the Mel Brooks song and dance.)

Like everything else between these star-crossed, er, sword-crossed politicians, the discussion of campaign debt has been contentious as the Clinton camp was not happy Obama did not offer to help sooner and the Obama camp was not happy that she continued in the primary even as she conducted a deficit-spending campaign, knowing he would help pay off her debt when he received the support of Supers Ds (Oh do I miss them). Further, as Howard Fineman notes when discussing the first date last night, back when the primary began, Democratic donors and potential Obama supporters, were told very early in the primary that is they did not support Clinton they would be shut out of Washington. Besides, there is the whole issue of the general where the DNC has not raised a lot of money compared to the RNC and other Democratic candidates need support in tough economic times. But I digress....

According to Politico, at tonight's meeting the Clinton donors want to know how he will help her pay of her political mortgage since she will not use her own small fortune. Senator Obama will not enlist his grassroots support (read email list) but one of his best fundraisers at developing infrastructure will be in charge. Both Barack and Michelle contributed the maximum amount of $2300 for Senator Clinton's campaign this evening. They had been criticized since they did not donate sooner.... like back in February when it could have helped her compete in the post-Super Tuesday states.

After each Senator addressed the crowd, after the press left, and before the donors, well, donated, the donors asked Senator Obama a few unloaded questions..

Question One: Will Senator Clinton be added to the ticket as VP. Both appeared uncomfortable and Senator Clinton gestured for him to move on.... (Hah). But seriously, that is what the report says Clinton did.

The second question concerned whether or not there would be a roll call vote at the convention (to make the votes official and so history can record the fact that Senator Clinton received x number of delegates)? There is a battle between the candidates over this as some Clinton supporters (but maybe not Clinton, I am not sure) want the roll call to record the votes. However, Senator Obama wants Clinton to release, officially, her delegates to him before the convention. It is a better sign of unity if the nominee has a unanimous total as it reduces any ambiguity. Obama responded with:

"Hillary and I are going to negotiate this thing and talk about it, and obviously we're going to do what is right for the party. We're all going to make sure we agree."

Of course, part of the negotiation, which, according to The New York Times, is being conducted by a lawyer, will concern speaking time and speech length at the convention in Denver as Senator Obama gets to play a prominent role in determining both, which can be very important if you have higher aspirations. (See part One and Two here.)

Also being negotiated are such topics as whether or not Senator Obama will provide staff and transportation for Senator Clinton if she campaigns for him, whether or not Senator Obama will hire more of Senator Clinton's staff (oh, because the Patti Solis Doyle was well-received by the Clinton camp), and whether or not they will allow former President Clinton to undermine, er, I mean campaign as well. President Clinton, who is still sulking in the corner of the woodshed, is, well, still sulking over the primary because people had the audacity to take seriously his comments. While Hillary has moved on, someone else has not.

Back to the inquisition.... at one point, The Washington Post reports that Senator Obama was told if he wanted to be a "true leader" he needed to "acknowledge that sexism had played a role in the demise of Clinton's campaign. Obama agreed and said that the issue should be addressed." A concern was raised that by her supporters that he did not properly address this, well, he did not address it at all during the campaign.

There was no follow up as to support how sexism made people vote against her or why the Clinton team did not speak out against the tactics of ra.... oh why bother. It is not the "ism," it is the result that matters most to this group and this group did not receive the result it desired, hence the tension.

Both campaigns have uttered, and yes the passive voice is necessary, either "Time is needed" or "Time heals all wounds." A complete healing is quite unlikely but enough for a Democratic to win is quite possible.

Now would be an interesting time, if this were to occur at all, for Senator Obama to choose Senator Clinton as his running mate. Again, as I have argued here over and over and over again, the probability of this occurring is very, very, very low as it counters Obama's message and the rift between the two is insurmountable. And, even if it could be bridged, it would not be a functional bridge; decorative, but not functional-- no one would want to walk let alone drive across it.

However, that being said, it seems that since Obama has a sizable lead in important state polls, which of course could change after an October surprise, but since he has that lead, he could select Senator Clinton from a position of power, not of weakness. Time has demonstrated that now, unlike the end of May, he does not need her to win in the fall. This may change, but if it does, he would not be the nominee or a functioning president....

And I leave you with this: "Time" by Pink Floyd (live).