Crowley captures it:
The preternaturally jolly McAuliffe is a good man to have spinning for you in a pinch. But his good cheer dimmed when I asked him about Bill Richardson, who appears to have made an 11th-hour deal to throw his supporters to Obama.
“How many times did [Clinton] appoint him?” McAuliffe marveled. “Two? U.N. Ambassador and Energy Secretary?” He looked at me, half-glaring, awaiting confirmation. “I don’t know,” I joked, “but who’s counting?”
“I am,” McAuliffe said firmly.
The Clintons used every lever, every intimidating tactic, every legitimate threat to bully Democratic office-holders to back them ... or else. Many caved. But for others, the politics of fear and parsing and petty polling are over.
This article available online at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/daily-dish/archive/2008/01/the-core-of-the-clintons/221750/
