Legal Commentary

Hillary Clinton Returns to Senate Amidst Cheers

By Jeralyn

Hillary Clinton returned to the Senate today. She's back to her day job, promising to roll up her sleeves, get to work, and yes, help Barack Obama become President.

Two hundred journalists, interns and others awaited her arrival at the carriage entrance outside the Senate chamber yesterday. A Senate official tried to keep order among the cameras, boom microphones and shotgun-wielding cops: "I need media credentials out! I need a space for her!"

...."Heads up!" somebody called out. The interns erupted in a cheer as soon as the leg of Clinton's turquoise pantsuit appeared though the doorway of her Lincoln Town Car.

The cheers continued at a private Senate luncheon. [More...]

as Clinton entered a private luncheon in the Capitol, these colleagues greeted her with cheers, hugs and high-fives. "It's great to be here among my colleagues," Clinton teased, "just another regular, plain old superdelegate."

Her colleagues told her how much they needed her. They also need her supporters:

Indeed, they need her 20 million supporters -- and they were tripping over themselves to make nice to the fallen candidate. "Hillary Clinton is a great, stalwart Democrat and a friend of mine," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced to reporters, with Clinton at his side.

After Clinton's brief words to her colleagues at the lunch, Reid and other Democratic leaders formed a procession to escort Clinton toward the reporters outside. Reid described "one of the most emotional caucuses I've attended," complete with tears.

Hillary had this to say:

"I come back with an even greater depth of awareness about what we have to do here in Washington," she said. She spoke with vagueness about her new role ("to be the very best senator I can be"), her plans ("I'm rolling up my sleeves and getting back to work") and her vice presidential ambitions ("I am not seeking any other position"). And she repeated the requisite promise to "work very hard to elect Senator Obama our president."

Welcome back, Hillary. The news has been dull in your absence.

Update: Greta Van Susteran took some nice photos.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on June 24, 2008 (boomark / email).