With Senator Clinton THIS CLOSE to endorsing the Democratic nominee, maybe we shouldn't rock the boat -- her supporters can be SO touchy

We're hearing, after all, that the senator may pony up her endorsement as soon as Saturday! So let's all tiptoe very gently, and try not to cause any agitation.

Difficult as it's proving to bring Senator Clinton around, the really big task, we're constantly reminded, is bringing her supporters into the Democratic fold. So far the people who claim to speak for them will only say that putting their candidate on the ticket will do it. Since it's looking increasingly as if there's not a whole lot of enthusiasm for this option in the Obama camp, and since some of the Clintonites with supposed inside knowledge of the senator's actual beliefs claim that she doesn't want the nomination anyway (although some of those insiders insist that she does want to be asked, that leaves the question of what else the loyal Clintonistas would accept in exchange for their support.

I'm just throwing this out, and I may be way off-base, but has anyone thought of offering them a pony?


OKAY, THAT WAS PRETTY SNARKY AND CONDESCENDING

Let me say straightaway that, owing to some quirks of blog scheduling, the above post was actually written before I saw our colleague Jon's "Lost in the Historic Moment With a Bitter Asterisk," which wound up being published earlier. Well, the scheduling quirk isn't all that mysterious. As soon as I read what we've presented as Jon's "personal reflection," I considered it a priority to get it up as quickly as possible. I may be biased, but I was overwhelmed by it.

In recent weeks I've been hearing an assortment of stories of the disappointment, heartbreak, even despair felt by supporters of the Clinton presidential candidacy. Some of them have really moved me. But none has hit home with me as forcefully as Jon's description of his mother's pain, and the unexpected gulf that has opened between them.

I might add that I've never met Jon's mom. But from the way he's talked about her, and about his dad too -- a pair of small-town Southerners who brought up their two sons to cherish and live according to the noblest of traditional liberal values -- I feel as if I know them, and they've become two of my favorite people. His mom's pain has really hit me personally, and I would hate to do anything to add to it, (For Pete's sake, don't anybody tell her about this tactless post!) I just wish I weren't the sort of person who would do most anything for a cheap laugh. Sigh.

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