by Mike Dorning
Barack Obama and Bill Clinton are planning to meet for lunch Thursday while the Democratic candidate is in New York for a ceremony marking the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, according to aides.
The meeting will be the first one-on-one get-together for the two Democrats, though Obama has said he has phoned the former president for advice on numerous occasions.
For most of the year, the two prominent Democrats have had a tense relationship. Friends of the former president were widely quoted over the summer describing Clinton as bitter over his wife's loss in the Democratic primaries and irritated that Obama has not paid more respect to the achievements of his presidency. Obama allies had been angered by comments Clinton made during the primary campaign that they felt sought to use Obama's race to diminish the Illinois senator's candidacy.
But the former president offered a fulsome endorsement of Obama in a speech at the Democratic convention in Denver.
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Comments
So now Obama needs the Clintons, after trashing both of them in the primaries. Both the Gallup and Zogby polls show McCain/Palin three to five points ahead of Obama/Biden. That's a swing of an unprecedented 15 points from the 11 point lead Obama reportedly had last week.
Can the Clintons save him? The real question is, will they want to.
Posted by: Garrick | September 7, 2008 7:06 PM
I wonder if one of the conversation topics will be that both Obama and Hillary thought about joining the military at one time:
Obama - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/barackobama/2700555/Barack-Obama-wanted-to-join-the-US-military.html
Hillary - http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06E4D71F3AF936A25755C0A962958260&n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes%20Topics%2FPeople%2FC%2FClinton%2C%20Hillary%20Rodham
Do the democrats have no shame on how low they will go to pander.
Posted by: Terry | September 7, 2008 10:11 PM
I think the Bush Dynasty wants McC to lose , and Billy wants Barack to lose.
Will Barack be able to get a word in edgewise???
He'll talk about his days at Yale Law School, that'll take about 30 minutes. Then he'll say "But enough about me. Why don't you ask Hillary what she thought of me at Yale?"
Posted by: ornery | September 7, 2008 11:42 PM
Maybe Obama doesn't realize that Bill Clinton understands one thing, and that is in order for Hillary to have any chance at the presidency at all, Obama MUST lose in 2008. Here is why:
1.If Obama wins this election, there is no doubt that he’ll run again in 2012. That guarantees that Hillary will not get the party nomination because it’s almost impossible for anyone to win a nomination against an incumbent during the primary.
2. If Obama wins this election, the next opportunity for Hillary will be 2016 and that might be too late for her.
So when Obama has lunch with Bill on Thursday, he might want to bring his own food taster with him !
Posted by: Ryan | September 7, 2008 11:47 PM
They "BOTH" should bring along a food taster. This way they BOTH" could enjoy the meal.
But there is nothing Bill or Hillary Soprano can do to save the "APPEASEMENT KID"
Sarah the "New Republican Terminator" will "TERMINATE THEM" if they get in the way too
VJ Machiavelli
http://www.vjmachiavelli.blogspot.com
ps Latest Gallup/USA poll McCain *& Palin up by 10 among likely voters
Posted by: VJ Machiavelli | September 8, 2008 2:53 AM
Obama seeks advice from Clinton? The same Clinton who never got a majority of votes in two national elections, 42% and 49%? Well, right now even that looks good to Obama. The polls show him trailing McCain by as much as 10 percent. Too bad all those Germans can't vote...or will they.
Posted by: Jamal | September 8, 2008 7:40 AM