Beyond the Dome

Two weeks after suspending her campaign for the presidency, Hillary Rodham Clinton is set to return to the Senate next week, guaranteeing a frenzy of media attention to her every move as she adjusts to something like the routine of an average senator.

It won't be routine for a while, of course. But she'll be back on the Hill next week, according to a Senate Democratic aide, putting to rest reports that she wouldn't return until after the July 4 recess. That impression was shared, until today, by some in the leadership.

The details haven't been announced, but Clinton's return, coming after two weeks in which she has stayed virtually out of sight, is sure to be a high-profile one. She'll be trailed by media mobs and camera crews, and she'll pressed to talk about her own future in the Senate, as well as answer all the obvious questions about what kind of role she'll have in Barack Obama's campaign.

The Obama campaign announced this morning that Obama and Clinton will campaign together at an event on June 27, a week from today, heightening the intrigue.

So far, there are no signs that the Senate Democratic leadership plans to offer Clinton any kind of special role to help ease her return to Senate life. Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin of Illinois - one of Obama's closest allies - dismissed the suggestion just two weeks ago, insisting that there are plenty of rewards in just being a senator, contrary to what outsiders might think.

And in fact, the closest recent parallel to Clinton's situation - the return of 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry - ended up with the Massachusetts senator going back pretty much to the life he had before. After a brief period of being chased by press crews, Kerry is now pretty much left alone. He has returned to a role as a knowledgeable member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee - and as an Obama surrogate, taking part in press conference calls almost every day.

Still, it will be months before Clinton really returns to life as just another member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, even if that's all she wants. She's got tremendous power to wield in the rest of the presidential campaign, which will take at least some time away from her Senate duties. And even after it's over, Obama promised at a fundraiser Wednesday night that Clinton will have a role in passing his health care overhaul plan if he wins the presidency.

That may or may not be something she wants to do. But as they say, one step at a time.