Beyond the Dome

CQ photo / Scott J. Ferrell

After postponing the meeting last week because of House votes, Barack Obama finally got to meet with members of the Democratic women’s caucus this afternoon. And no more than 15 minutes after he arrived, the House called another series of votes.

No matter. Everyone just talked fast.

So far, at least, there are no reports of any serious venting at the meeting at the Democratic National Committee headquarters, even among the members who supported Hillary Rodham Clinton. For the most part, they just talked about campaign nuts and bolts, such as what to do to win their districts, which issues to stress, where to visit, etc.

“It was all positive, where do we go from here,” said Rep. Lynn Woolsey of California, who had supported Clinton in the primaries.

Obama gave a short speech at the beginning, participants said, and then offered to listen to whatever they had to say.

“He just said, ‘Look, most of you know where I’m at, I appreciate everything you’re doing, I know some of you were on the other side, I’m a Hillary fan too,’ ” said Rep. Melissa Bean of Illinois, an Obama supporter.

For the most part, the women who attended just offered constructive advice, Bean said — and urged him to remind voters, at every possible opportunity, of John McCain’s support for restrictions on abortion.

“People just said, ‘Look, here’s what we’re doing in our state, and here’s where you need to go, and by the way, don’t forget to remind people that McCain is anti-choice,” Bean said. “He said, ‘Yeah, I think we’ll be getting that message out there.’ “

Woolsey said she simply warned Obama that her liberal district, just north of San Francisco, will want to “make sure that he doesn’t waver” on their priorities now that he has secured the nomination. Obama is already taking heat from the left for saying he’ll support the compromise on a rewrite of electronic surveillance rules, which the Senate probably will vote on after the Fourth of July recess.

“He was a very good listener,” said Rep. Nancy Boyda of Kansas — a centrist Democrat who stayed uncommitted throughout the primaries and had kept her distance from Obama until today. She said she went to the meeting because “he’s the nominee of our party and I’d never had a chance to meet him.”

Most of the members agreed that, while Obama may still have fences to mend with some women in the Democratic caucus, most have moved on from the primary battles because they realize the bigger priority is the future of the Supreme Court, particularly if a President McCain gets to nominate more conservative justices.

“Were there some hard feelings? Sure. Was there some venting at one point? Yes,” said Bean. “But that was so two weeks ago.”