Back in April, after she'd been shaking hands at a Toledo factory gate but before flying to Texas, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton told the press: "Sen. McCain brings a lifetime of experience to the campaign. I bring a lifetime of experience. And Sen. Obama brings a speech he gave in 2002."
A pretty good zinger that got Clinton into the day's news flow while her plane was heading to a rally in Austin.
But why would the Democratic candidate mention the Republican at all, let alone in a positive way?
Then, in the primaries' final weeks, as the inevitable delegate math squeezed Clinton, she attacked Barack Obama. And John McCain, already running for the general election, attacked Obama. And Obama fired back at the Republican.
But neither Clinton nor McCain fired at each other.
Then, after the last night of primary ballot-counting, Clinton and Obama spoke briefly about each other.
McCain uttered one sentence about Obama. Then the Arizona Republican said this: "Sen. Clinton has earned great respect for her tenacity and courage. The media often overlooked how compassionately she spoke to the concerns and dreams of millions of Americans, and she deserves a lot more appreciation than she sometimes received.
"As the father of three daughters, I owe her a debt for inspiring millions of women to believe there is no opportunity in this great country beyond their reach. I am proud to call her my friend."
When Clinton conceded the Democratic race last weekend, she thanked her supporters and offered a hearty endorsement of Obama.
But something was missing. There was not one word in her speech about the Republican nominee whom Obama must confront.
As she was speaking, the McCain campaign's new blog, the McCain Report, posted a special tribute to the losing Democratic candidate.
"Sen. Clinton has really grown on us," McCain blogger Michael Goldfarb wrote. "She ran an impressive campaign." She was "an impressive candidate." She "inspired a generation of women."
The blog post included a photo of McCain and Clinton together on a ship in the Arctic during a journey as members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. These things do not happen on official campaign websites spontaneously or by accident. Nor does the enemy accidentally get omitted from a major speech.
So The Ticket called people who know both McCain and Clinton. It's true, they confirmed, there is a special friendship. It apparently started in January 2001, when Clinton became the first former first lady elected to public office and walked into the U.S. Senate.
