Clinton shouts out to 'dynamic' Biden

by Christi Parsons

DENVER--Hours after her VP hopes finally ended with a curt text message, HIllary Clinton this morning dashed off her own quick public note -- a congratulatory one to Joe Biden.

He's an "exceptionally strong, experienced leader and devoted public servant," Clinton writes, predicting he will be "a purposeful and dynamic vice president who will help Sen. Obama both win the presidency and govern this great country."

Maybe so, but there are some Hillary voters out there for whom this is the final insult. Polls suggest that Obama is picking up a lot of those supporters, but his campaign is carefully courting this constituency, with special attention to the Clinton stronghold states.

Most immediately, simmering distrust between Obama and those voters could be a distraction from the stageshow at the Democratic national convention gearing up in Denver this weekend. Some of Clinton's most fervent supporters are pretty steamed about how the whole thing unfolded.

Clinton has her game face on, and her stated intention is to reaffirm the unity message and to appeal to those voters on Obama's behalf. Tomorrow, she's taking her message to the United Farm Workers convention in California, and then she heads to Denver for a series of delegation breakfasts and caucus meetings throughout the week.

Later in the week, she'll get her roll call vote, acknowledging the 18 million (give or take a few) votes she won in the brutal primary battle against Obama, and she'll explicitly call for her friends to be Obama's friends.

The fact that the guy who beat her out is Biden may make this all a little easier. After a season of pointing out the lightness of Obama's resume and chafing at every mention of his youth and vitality, the Clinton folks are now asked to get behind someone who has been around forever and earned his stripes.

Anyone who watched the series of Democratic debates back when Biden and Clinton were both in it recalls that Biden was never snarky toward Clinton, and often downright friendly. For some Clinton backers, it might help a little.

For them, at the bottom of this morning's note, there was a tiny little reminder that she isn't really going anywhere.

"If you would rather not receive future email messages from Hillary Clinton, Press Office," it said, "let us know." Stay tuned for plenty more.