Obama puckers up

Remember when Bill Clinton said Barack Obama would have to "kiss my ass" to get his support? Well, keep that Chapstick handy:

"President Clinton had a very good conversation with Sen. Obama today. He renewed his offer to do whatever he can to ensure Sen. Obama is our next President," said Bill Clinton spokesperson Matt McKenna.

Allahpundit observes:

Doubtless he did it simply to try to stop Bill from sucking up any more media coverage with his lingering bitterness. Meditate on this as a measure of how far the Legacy has fallen: If Clinton promised tomorrow not to say another word for the rest of the campaign, whether for or against Obama, the party leadership as well as the vast majority of Democrats could probably live with it just fine.

Allah: Let it go, man. Just let it go. Hillary lost the nomination and Bill's shameful record speaks for itself. Ally McBeal got cancelled, Friends and Seinfeld are in reruns, and Kurt Cobain's dead. The '90s are over, buddy. Move on.

Besides, Billy Jeff hates Hope, too. That means he's on your side now, like it or not.

UPDATE: Politico:

The campaign said the call lasted about 20 minutes. Maria Gavrilovic of CBS News quotes the campaign as reporting that Obama called Clinton [Monday] on the drive from Kansas City to Independence at approximately 10 a.m. Central. Obama asked him to campaign with and for him, and Clinton said he is looking forward to it.

Ed Morrisey:

The man who insisted that he could meet Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hugo Chavez without preconditions certainly took his time speaking with the former leader of his own party after clinching the nomination.

Despite the death of Kurt Kobain and the cancellation of Ally McBeal, the Clintons are not irrelevant. Older Democrats (50+) had a lot of emotional investment in the idea of Hillary continuing a presidency that the Baby Boom liberals viewed as a success. Al Gore was supposed to have done this, but Bush cheated him out of it (or so the Clintonistas believe), and the Hillary candidacy was their chance at a restoration.

These older Democrats are not racist, but they also don't believe that America is over the race thing, and they fear that Obama -- a political novice -- isn't ready to deal with the "Republican attack machine" the way the Clintons would have been.

Old people vote, and old people have memories. This is the political fact that is being overlooked in the liberal enthusiasm for Obama (and the corresponding gloom among some young conservatives). All the young campaign reporters I talk to seem to have the idea that the "youth vote" is going to sweep the Messiah to victory, and that the alienation of older Democrats (the Hillary voters) is not going to matter. Good luck with that.

In today's Democracy Corps poll, 21% of the respondents were over 65 or older. Nov. 4 is going to be National Geezer Day.