Details are sketchy about the meeting, which occurred earlier this evening in Washingon. It was initiated by Clinton and signals to some the beginning to "reunite" the Democratic Party after a highly-charged and highly-contested primary race. (EXCERPTS BELOW THE ANALYSIS):
However, Clinton's supporters are not ready to "go gently into that good night" and many have signaled they will support presumptive Republican nominee John McCain in November. Raw emotions exist over what many view as blatant sexism, driven by a large cadre of Obama's online supporters. This has infuriated women, particularly "baby boomers" who themselves have experienced sexism and hostility as they climbed their way up the ladder in jobs and positions seen as the province of men until the 60s and 70s when a new "wave" of feminism swept across the county and was a concerted backlash against the rampant sexism women faced - even from men in their own "progressive" ranks.
This is one large piece of a complicated and bitter campaign between Clinton and Obama that split Democratic voters down the middle over the two candidates: Obama won the delegate count and took on the mantle of presumptive Democratic nominee on Tuesday; Clinton won the popular vote count. This election is the first time in many years that this has happened and has also fueled the anger among supporters in both camps. Obama's surrogates and supporters have called Clinton's claims exaggerations and outright lies and has thus deepened divisions and further irritaged already-raw feelings, particularly among women.
There is also the issue of Clinton's support among blue-collar working class voters, rural voters, the elderly, and other "invisible" voters - many of whom have felt left out and actively dismissed by the Obama campaign. Obama did not spend much effort campaigning in West Virginia and Kentucky - areas of the country that gained renewed attention over perceptions of racial divides. Appalachia, a large swath of the country that runs throughout the Ohio River Valley and encompasses portions of three large states, is largely a "white, working class" area - and also has many pockets of deep poverty.
The perception of Obama as "elite" has persisted because Sen. Obama has focused much of his effort on attracting young voters, affluent urban voters, white-collar "creative class" and professional voters, and African Americans, to the exclusion of lower-income working class voters in this and other parts of the country.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Likely U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and former rival Hillary Clinton were meeting privately on Thursday night at her home in Washington, news media reported.
CNN reported it was "a small meeting" with perhaps just the two senators and a few aides in attendance.
[snip]
The meeting with Obama was initiated by Clinton after a daylong series of talks between their aides, The New York Times reported on its Web site.
Obama had been scheduled to fly back to Chicago on Thursday evening after a rally in northern Virginia but stayed behind for the meeting, shedding his campaign plane and the traveling press corps and entourage, the newspaper said.
UPDATE I:
CNN reports that the meeting between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama was not held at Clinton's home in Northwest Washington, as indicated in earlier reports. Reporting on "Anderson Cooper", CNN correspondent Candy Crowley said the meeting was in fact held at an undisclosed location in Washington.
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