Hillary Clinton makes her return to Capitol Hill

Hillary Clinton refocused on her day job today, after lying low for more than two weeks since her widely acclaimed speech ceding the Democratic presidential nomination to Barack Obama and, more to the point, after almost 18 months of being preoccupied with her White House quest.

The senator from New York arrived at the Capitol via an SUV shortly after 1 p.m. EDT and, perhaps to help her adjust to the culture shock on having left the campaign trail, a crowd was on hand for the occasion. See video below.

It wasn't a large one -- perhaps 100 or so, according to The Times' Noam Levey, who was on the scene. And although some were supporters, a few were interns who had been told by supervisors to line the Capitol's steps to greet her. And others were simply a clutch of Washington's ubiquitous tourists.

They combined to give the defeated candidate a warm welcome, cheering and waving as she made her way into her workplace. "We missed you," shouted one woman.

And Clinton -- dressed in a bright turquoise suit much like the one she wore on the last day of the primary season on June 3 -- looked upbeat as she paused to shake hands. She made a point of asking some of the younger onlookers where they were from and thanking them for coming out to see her. She then disappeared inside the edifice, where she joined her Democratic colleagues for their weekly policy lunch in the Lyndon Baines Johnson room outside the Senate chamber.

Standing at the edge of the crowd before Clinton arrived, Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana --an early and staunch backer of Clinton's presidential bid -- said he expected she now would move toward a leadership role in the Senate.

"I don't think she'll enter the witness protection program. ... She's not going to be an anonymous figure," Bayh said. "She has so much to contribute. ... I hope she'll embrace this opportunity, and I think she will. ... You can make a heck of a difference in the United States Senate."

Clinton probably can count on an extra dose of empathy from Bayh -- he briefly stuck his toe in the 2008 presidential waters before quickly withdrawing and casting his lot with her.

Indeed, the chamber is full of lawmakers with whom she can commiserate. Among the 99 other senators, 15 have run for president, to greater or lesser extents. **

That includes the two who are still at it, Obama and John McCain (one of whom, barring an unforeseen circumstance, will become the first sitting senator since John Kennedy in 1960 to win the office).

-- Don Frederick

Photo: Associated Press

** For true political junkies, the current senators -- aside from Clinton, Obama, McCain and Bayh -- who have sought the presidency are Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Joe Biden of Delaware, Sam Brownback of Kansas, Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina, Chris Dodd of Connecticut, Tom Harkin of Iowa, Orrin Hatch of Utah, John Kerry and Ted Kennedy, both of Massachusetts, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, Richard Lugar of Indiana and Arlen Spector of Pennsylvania.

Comments

[Wm Tate]

Was that a crowd ... or creditors?

Maybe, like so many other Democratic senators, she can get a special deal with Countrywide!

-Wm Tate,
http://www.atimelikethis.us/

[BOO-HOO]

BECAUSE OF HER NEGATIVE PARTY SPLITTING CAMPAIGN AS WELL AS HER BACKSTABBING TACTICS I DON'T THINK THAT HILARY WILL MAKE THE BIG SPLASH IN CONGRESS THAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING SHE WILL...THIS WILL BE HER LAST TERM.

SHE WILL PROBABLY DUMP HER HUSBAND (AND RIGHTLY SO) AND THEN RUN FOR GOVENOR OF NEW YORK.

[Winnie W.]

To: Don Frederick

Please don't say "laying down." It's lying down. The past tense of any irregular verb (lie, lay, lain) should not have an ing. Lie means to rest or be in place. Lay means to put something down. I'm sure you know this so why write down to your audience.

[Aja B.]

Stuck his TOE in the water, not TOW.

(oops, yup. Thanks.)

[S Thomas]

And the nation yawns.

[Oopali Operajita]

You absolutely can make one heck of a difference in Senate or Congress. Witness the career trajectory of Edward Kennedy, or Daniel Moynihan. In politics, once you've transcended the self-pity mode, you're able to contribute substantively, on a daily basis, to the real and long-term welfare of a nation. And god knows, with its critical economic ,and other, woes, effective senators and congresspersons is what America needs, badly, at this juncture.

[vb]

It's a given that those who feel compelled to trash a woman like Hillary Clinton for no possible reason other than deep-seated misogyny must be suffering from deep psychological wounds. I suggest that each of you seek professional help and guidance so that you can lead a more normal lifestyle and learn to accept those whose opinions differ from yours.

[NJ from LA]

Senator Clinton ran a fine campaign, and I'm sure she'll continue to do her best for the country in the US Senate. I was really disappointed that she is not the Democratic nominee, as she would have been a terrific President.

As for the negative comments towards Senator Clinton on this blog, I've learned to ignore ignorant Senator Obama fans who wish to do nothing but continue to separate the party. It's not Senator Obama doing it, so I won't hold the negativity against him.

Signed,

A Hillfan who will most probably vote Obama

[D.Newton]

Yes, the democratic party is SO sexist.

Whatever Hillary. Go crawl under the crazy rock where you came from. Obama won because he smarter and not a psycho.

[jennifer potenciano]

a day after hillary ended her quest for the u.s. presidency, in several online publications, i remarked that obama’s next move—in his choice of his vp nominee—will tell whether he’ll turn out to be both a statesman & a practical politician simultaneously.

well, as events unfolded since then, it’s pretty obvious that obama hasn’t turned out either. instead, he has hopelessly remained the quintessential machiavellian politician that he is. it’s now certain he won’t get hillary as his vp partner. if obama wanted it, he would have announced right off that day. but no, obama’s really deeply insecure about hillary, always wary of his inferiority against this brilliant paradigm of american womanhood.

what can anyone say as cogent arguments for any position--as in the wisdom of putting in hillary in the ticket—if the supposed recipient of such rational input is himself beyond reason, as obama obviously is?

in this kind of set-up, obama’s no different from the rapacious, vain & fascistic gloria macapagal arrovo, who stole the philippine presidency in 2001 thru wiles & guiles, & has ruled ever since via the same deceitful way. imagine, she has the gall to boast that the “cheapest” per kilo price of rice that we, filipinos, eat would go down to only P34 or P35 (as if it meant anything, when the cheapest we used to buy was only P18 per, & when money for us poor is so hard to come by)--from P38-P39, as a result of the influx of imported rice & an expected bountiful harvest this october. well, mother nature has waylaid all her plans, w/ howler fenshen/frank flooding & wasting away huge expected palay harvests. too bad, the filipinos pay the price for arroyo’s sins.

obama is similarly rapacious & vain & wily—but not wise or brilliant. in his greediness, obama has no compunction to deny the american women the chance to have the 1st american woman vp, in hillary, just so he alone can bask in the fleeting light of fame. megalomania has crept inside obama’s cranium, obviously. if so, can rank failure be far behind? remember, he whom God wishes to destroy, He first makes him mad.

& there’s john mccain to frustrate obama in his lustful bid for the u.s. presidency come this fall.

[G Diaz]

Cede means to give up that which one has. Concede means to admit defeat or another's title to something one does not possess. Mrs. Clinton conceded defeat. She could not have "ceded" the Democratic nomination because she never had it to surrender. In general, a sloppy and unnecessarily catty story by someone who appears to never have been in Washington.

[Bo Gardiner]

Help, Hillary!

You left them alone for a second and look at the mess they made. FISA, campaign finance reform...

[anonymous]

The greatest passion is neither love nor hate. It is the desire to correct another person's copy.

[basement angel]

Clinton - the best presidential candidate in probably the last fifty years. Glad to see her back in DC. We'll need her anchoring this nation if choice really comes down to a pair numbnutz like McCain and Obama.

Talk about Dumb and Dumber. Holy moly, the next four years are going to suck.

[Dudley Lewellen]

I think Jim Crow overtone yet exist in some like the die hard battery, some dont want to cut ties to the past, talk radio is keeping hatred, jim crow and segregation alive, the time has changed but there are some that dont realize it yet, this is not a black white thing its about economic the color is green where is the money we need more money to atact crime and injustice.

[Dudley Lewellen]

The only problems people have with Obama is the color of his skin, its time that America come together, bloodless coup media lynching thats makes it hard to reach out to young Americans but there is hope and opportunities in America.

[Joshua Dobbins]

Regardless of our political views, we all must recognize that Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign is historic and that our founding fathers (and mothers) would be pleased to see the progress that we have made as a nation in the last 232 years. One of the major problems with our government, that still plagues us today, is the same one that George Washington recognized at the outset - the two-party system--one of the great evils of democracy. I wish Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Barrack Obama, Mike Huckabee, and John McCain would all put their names on the ballot in November and let the people decide who they want for their next president.

[Katie]

God Bless Hillary Clinton. She worked so hard in spite of the bias media. GOOD THINGS ARE IN STORE FOR HER BECAUSE GOD IS WATCHING. Obama is going down, there is no question in mind.

[Johnny Reb]

Hillary's a rock star now.

Deal with it, people.

bwahahaha