I want to dissent a little bit from what Jill said down below about the likely dynamic between Obama and Hillary:

The bottom line though is that this kumbaya ain’t likely to last. It’s been a mighty long time since Mrs. Clinton has had a boss. She and Obama have significant differences in opinion around foreign policy — for example, he always thought the Iraq war was a bad idea and she not only supported it, but has basically said that the idea wasn’t bad, just poorly executed.

I think Jill is mostly right on the merits–Obama said he didn’t just want to end the war, he wanted to “end the mindset” that got us in Iraq in the first place, and Hillary Clinton was a perfect example of that Democratic “Defensive Crouch” mindset.

At the same time, he won that argument, and he’s the boss now. Hillary has to know that he won that argument. By the time the primary was over, she probably understood the wisdom of Obama’s position, given that without having opposed the war from the beginning he might not have won.

I also think the emotional gulf between Hillary and Obama is overstated. Sure, they were bitter rivals, but if there’s anyone who understands what it’s like to run for president with the wind of bigotry blowing trash in your face, it’s these two. By saying that, I don’t mean to set aside the fact that during the primary, the Clintons were throwing some of that trash. Hillary and Obama dealt with different kinds of prejudice, but they are really the only two people on earth who have even a remote idea of what the other faced. And I think that counts for a lot. They may not like each other, but for that reason I think they trust each other. As for Bill, well I can’t speak to that.

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