Beyond the Dome

Ever since Hillary Rodham Clinton’s widely praised speech Tuesday night — which wholeheartedly endorsed Obama and paid tribute to her campaign without dwelling on it — the Barack Obama camp has been trying hard to return the favor. But even for them, it’s hard to let the past go completely.

At a breakfast with reporters this morning, David Axelrod, Obama’s chief strategist, said he has been “amused” by the running storyline about Clinton’s alleged lack of enthusiasm about Obama. “Everything we’ve asked her to do, she’s done,” Axelrod said. “And she’s offered to do more, and we’re going to take her up on her offer.”

Michelle Obama made much the same point yesterday in a speech to the Hispanic Caucus. Clinton’s speech, she said, “shows what a true and gracious leader she is.” And she added this interesting nugget: that Chelsea Clinton has offered to talk to the Obama’s daughters, Malia and Sasha, about her experiences.

Still, the nature of the drawn-out primary battle between Obama and Clinton seems to make it impossible that the Obama campaign would never mention it again. When asked why the Obama-McCain race is closer in the national polls than the generic Democrat vs. Republican matchups, Axelrod reminded the reporters that Obama had just come off of an unusually long primary season. “That has had some impact on us,” Axelrod said.

And whose fault was that? He never said. Guess it just happened all by itself.