A Picture Speaks....

it made more news that the state of the union address. a quick snapshot by an AP reporter.

we all saw obama and ted kennedy walk into the SOTU together. that earlier in the day ted had publicly endorsed obama... after the clintons had asked him to stick with his original decision to stay out of the primary and not endorse.

we all know that ted kennedy is a long time friend of the clintons... but that he was "appalled" by the campaign tactics of bill clinton over the past couple of weeks.

he endorsed. he also strongly rebuked.

and then we have this picture.

an enthusiastic hillary shakes ted kennedy's hand. in another angle ted seems happy to greet his long-time friend. after all - his beef was mainly with bill.

but look at obama. his back turned. "childish" as one friend described it.

to me...this picture speaks volumes. do they truly despise each other? is there no chance of a clinton/obama ticket?

on morning joe earlier today, obama's strategist david axelrod gave the following explanation:

No, I don't think he snubbed her at all. First of all, they acknowledged each other as they entered the chamber. But I think he knew that Senator Kennedy and Senator Clinton were friends. This was obviously an awkward day from that standpoint, and I don't think he wanted to stand there while Senator Kennedy was greeting Senator Clinton. And I think that was an appropriate sentiment. Unfortunately, the camera caught it in a different way, and so it got interpreted that way. And that's the kind of environment we're in right now. It's a very competitive race, so every little thing is going to be interpreted in that way. But it was really a matter of letting Senator Kennedy have his own conversation, his own greeting with Senator Clinton without him hovering over them.

i hope this is the case... we have two phenomenal candidates running... and whoever the nominee is, clinton and obama have to work hard to bring the party together.

i just hold out hope it can be done at the top of a ballot this november with bumper stickers everywhere declaring:

clinton/obama 08!

e.