Clinton Supporters for McCain Pt. 2

this may end up being a long-running series if the Senator's Blog has anything to say about it...

Senator Clinton has really grown on us over here in Crystal City over the past few months. She ran an impressive campaign, and proved herself to be an impressive candidate and as John McCain has said, inspired a generation of women. Ultimately, and ironically, it seems she fell victim to a vast left-wing conspiracy that resented her generally centrist foreign policy views (early support for the Iraq war, support for Kyl-Lieberman, unwavering support for Israel, etc.).

And so it was interesting that she barely touched on foreign policy in her concession speech today. She mentioned Iraq only twice, she mentioned terrorism only once, and she didn't mention Iran at all. After all, her serious approach to each of these issues proved liability in the Democratic primary. She spent years building a strong record on national security, and in the end her party opted for a candidate with no national security experience at all.

Senator Clinton also didn't mention John McCain once during her speech. This came as something of a surprise over here, and a pleasant one at that. But it's clear that John McCain and Hillary Clinton respect each other -- and there is a genuine affection for her here at McCain HQ. During her speech there was no small amount of pleading with the TV: 'Don't do it, you can still win!'

What can we draw from this?

• McCain will try and make the argument to Clinton voters that Clinton was forced out by a "vast left-wing conspiracy"
• McCain will note that McCain and Clinton have similar Foreign Policy ideals (not counting that whole Iraq War pullout idea)
• Constantly talk about "genuine affection" and "respect". I'd be shocked if the Vodka Drinking Contest Story didn't burst forward again in the coming months.
• Carefully note when and where Clinton name-drops McCain, analyzing it's context and perhaps making the argument that "she didn't mean it". They are clearly pointing out here that Clinton endorsed Obama without attacking McCain... is that a clue for Clinton Supporters or is it just Clinton going out on a high note?

Looks like the courting is on full force...