Consider this, on election eve,

from Carrie Budoff Brown & Glenn Thrush on Politico:

After it became clear her in the spring that her comeback against Obama would come up short, Hillary Clinton plopped down into the front seat of her campaign plane and shared her thoughts on the general election with a handful of wrung-out staffers.

Clinton, whose relationship with Obama was still tense and tentative at that moment, professed no great affection or admiration for Obama, whom she regarded as less qualified than herself. But she would support him, body and soul, she said, because she was so terrified by the prospect of McCain sitting in the Oval Office. And that was before the credit markets crashed, setting off a domino effect on the U.S. economy.

�John McCain�s my friend; I really like him,� she said, according to a person who was within earshot. �But there�s just no way we can let him be president.�

Clinton�s relationship with Obama has improved markedly since then (although associates say she occasionally betrays her belief that she�s be a better candidate), but friends and associates say her manic work on behalf of her longtime Democratic rival is motivated not so much by Obamaphilia but, rather, by a bone-deep fear of McCain.

�She�s convinced he would destroy the country,� said a source close to the former first lady.

Her impression of McCain has gone even farther south since the troubles on Wall Street surfaced a few weeks ago. When supporters call to complain about Obama, as some still do, she invariably regales them with a polite but steely description of how McCain will drive the country off an economic cliff, people close to her say.

�It would be a mistake to underestimate the degree to which both Clintons feel the need for change,� said Douglas Schoen, a pollster to the former president during his 1996 reelection campaign. �It would be a mistake to read into the election that they are playing some Machiavellian game and they aren�t saying what they believe.�

An aide to Sen. Clinton said she has helped raised more than $10 million for the Democratic ticket and held �well over 75 events and activities,� which have included donor calls, conference calls, media interviews and fundraisers. She�s also building up political chits around the country, assisting 80 House and Senate candidates in 30 states, and she has given more than $735,000 to various candidates through her political action committee, HillPAC.

This piece should be read in full. Although it seems to me that there’s still a bit of an assumption that the Clintons owe something to Barack Obama, nevertheless, I think it indicates that Hillary’s support for Obama is real and not just political necessity.

This NYTimes piece is a little lighter on the cheerleading about the whole relationship thing, but it does contain this consoling (for me) passage. Respect is due Hillary Clinton; she has earned it in many ways:

While Mrs. Clinton still has a campaign debt of several million dollars, she has been steadily raising money for her political action committee, which advisers say could become a means to champion women�s issues.

Mrs. Clinton won about 17 million votes in her presidential primary campaign, and by all accounts she will emerge on Election Day as a respected force in the eyes of not only her allies but also of people around Mr. Obama, for whom she has raised several million dollars and done more than 75 rallies, fund-raisers, conference calls and other tasks.

�It�s one of those times where she has won by losing, in a very real sense,� said Senator Charles E. Schumer, her Democratic colleague from New York. �Whether people were with her, like I was, or not with her, I think everyone�s respect for her in the Senate has gone up in the way she has handled herself since the end of the race.�

As I’ve said here before, Al Gore is the best proof that there’s life after a media-induced election loss. Character still counts.

And just as I am about to post this, I received this message from the HillPac:

Tomorrow we have the opportunity to make history.

Tomorrow we can elect Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Democrats up and down the ticket.
Together, we can begin putting this country on the right track.

Tomorrow we can set a new course.

__________
For those of you who live locally and don’t find the Kentucky Café jam to your taste, consider the Kentucky Theater:

Don’t sit at home on Election Night! C’mon down to the Kentucky Theatre after the polls close and watch the election returns on our big screen.

Admission is free. Our fully-stocked snack bar will keep you refreshed throughout the evening. Your friends and neighbors will be there.

We’d love to have you join us at the Kentucky Theatre for this important national and local event.

Kentucky Theatre, 214 E. Main Street, Lexington, KY 40507, USA

Me? I plan to go to bed early and get a good night’s sleep.

And I’ll admit that, come Wednesday morning, I’d find it a relief to learn that next year we will no longer have a belligerent white man in the White House.

See here and here.

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