Obama Is Bill Clinton's Phone Call Pal



(image via boston)

Now that we have broken out of the kung-fu grip of The Clintons (and we don't blame them, it is the nature of Power that once you have it, you believe it belongs to you), we kind of miss them. Remember when Bill Clinton was like a big old teddy bear -- one that loved Sylvia's and McDonald fillet-o-fish sandwiches -- that gave us budget surpluses? Good times.

And Senator Clinton ran an incendiary campaign that forever smashed the glass ceiling at the Presidential level (and also smashed stupid stereotypes that women weren't as tough as men). But their time in Presidential Power, like time of the House of Bush, is done. How does one smooth over the ill-feelings that are sure to rankle as the next administration -- probably Obama's -- prepares to assume the mantle that less than six months ago the Clinton's believed was all theirs? By a phone call, apparently. From Craig Crawford of CQ:

"In the end, a phone call helped finally mend things between Obama and Clinton. Friends of the former president had long told Obama that to ease relations he should make a point of frequently calling Clinton. He loves to chat day or night, they said, even if it's a ten-minute call and even if you don't talk about anything very serious.

"It was one of their more serious calls that made a lasting impression on Clinton and paved the way for their first joint appearance on Wednesday. It was telling that during the most personal and persuasive part of Clinton's Orlando talk he mentioned that Obama had called him when trying to decide how to handle last month's economic crisis. Clinton went on to lavish praise on Obama's deliberation and wisdom in handling his campaign's response to the crisis.

"Making Clinton his phone pal helped Obama relieve the tensions from taking the power that the Clintons had refused to concede without a fight."

We couldn't stay mad at them forever either.