by Christi Parsons
On the morning flight to DC, Barack Obama said today that he is happy to be stepping back from the “one primary a week” pace so he can think a little bit – and, it seems, enjoy some friendly chats with people who have trod this road before.
One guy he’s been chatting up is Al Gore, Obama mentioned in flight, saying that just last week he talked to the guy who won the popular vote in 2000.
He also talked “the last two weeks” with former Democratic rival John Edwards. In neither case did he reveal the subject of the conversations, except to say that he was expecting nothing more than “good advice” in the near future.
As he headed toward the Capitol, Obama was also anticipating a face-to-face reunion on the Senate floor with Hillary Clinton.
“I’m sure we’ll be both effusive,” he predicted, “and make sure that we shake hands.” When the two ran into each other there a few weeks back, as was widely noted in the press, their body language was less than warm.
As it turned out, the two got nearly five minutes of face time, as observers in the gallery noted. Clinton even passed on a cell phone call to continue the conversation.