Dem strategists: Clinton overplayed her hand

The same unfounded sense of entitlement that may have cost Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) the presidential nomination could cost her the No. 2 spot on the ticket as well, according to Democratic strategists.

They note that Clinton’s defiant speech in the face of defeat Tuesday night, coupled with her continued presence in a campaign that has moved past her, could disqualify the one-time Democratic front-runner from a chance at the vice presidency.

{mosads}“It was as ungracious as it was delusional,” one Democratic strategist said.

Her speech, in which she didn’t acknowledge Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) win but emphasized the 17 million people who voted for her, was far short of what most analysts say she needed to do if she truly wants to be Obama’s running mate.

And the fact that she was still in the race Wednesday morning, with the nomination fight clearly decided, obviously rankled several Democratic leaders as well.

But Obama made it clear he is the presumptive nominee and that he’s looking forward to campaigning against presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).

His decision to move forward while ignoring Clinton and whatever leverage she has — or had, as the case may be — could cost Clinton more than the vice presidency; it could put her in the Democratic club of the invisible also-ran.

“She runs the risk of making herself irrelevant at some point, but she’s not there yet,” one strategist said. “She still has a chance to do the right thing.”

And early Wednesday morning, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean released a statement urging the remaining uncommitted superdelegates to make their decisions known by Friday.

That impatience, likely amplified by Obama supporters already wary of the Clintons, stems from a familiar complaint against the New York senator and former President Bill Clinton — that they felt all along it was Clinton’s “turn” to be the nominee and they are unwilling to let go of that belief.

One strategist who is a Clinton supporter bristled at the notion she is being ungracious, attempting to steal Obama’s thunder or even angling for leverage to be on the ticket.

“Those who so happily talk about Hillary Clinton’s chances for VP are probably the same who tried to write her epitaph in January,” the strategist said. “I’m guessing Clinton did not intend to step on Obama’s night but just wanted to thank her supporters. She deserves the chance to exit gracefully, which I think she will soon.”

Media reports at press time indicated Clinton will bow out on Friday.

The decision to select Clinton is already complicated by a nomination battle that was oftentimes bitter and included the involvement of a former president who was at best unpredictable throughout the race.

{mosimage}The Republican National Committee (RNC) has already run clips of Clinton harshly questioning Obama’s readiness to be commander in chief and former President Bill Clinton’s remarks that Obama’s anti-war stance was a “fairy tale.” Those types of statements have long been seen as one of the reasons the Clinton mystique was diminished.

“With the animosity between the two of them [Clinton and Obama], she just gave him the back of her hand,” one strategist said of Clinton’s actions following Obama’s victory.

What’s more, several strategists doubted that Tuesday’s leak of a phone call in which Clinton indicated her openness to the VP slot was accidental. They noted traditionally it is considered poor form to be seen as campaigning for the job.

“She is not endearing herself to Obama and his team right now,” an unaffiliated Democratic strategist said. “She is also hurting her cause by putting him in a corner — she’s not giving him an acceptable public way to pick her as his No. 2 while still looking like a strong No. 1 — independent and not coerced.”

For many strategists contacted for this story and quoted only on the condition of anonymity, the reason for her behavior on election night and the day after went back to the Clintons’ long-held belief that she was owed the nomination.

Obama often referenced that sense on the stump when he first started to ratchet up his attacks on Clinton last year.

“I am not running for this office to fulfill any long-held plans or because I believe it is somehow owed to me,” Obama often said.

Another strategist who supports Clinton, but called Tuesday night’s speech self-indulgent, said the clock is ticking.

“I think she’s got 24 hours to fix this,” the strategist said. “The best way to become vice president is not to pressure anybody, it’s to do everything she can to elect Barack Obama president of the United States.”

Democratic leaders do not relish a further fight over the No. 2 slot when the fight for the No. 1 slot has already raised serious questions about divisions in the party. So leaders went out of their way Wednesday to praise Clinton to keep the existing fissures from growing bigger.

{mospagebreak}House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), one of the leaders who has carefully remained neutral throughout the nomination contest, announced his support for Obama, and stressed that the nominee should be allowed to choose his own nominee without pressure.

But he also noted that Obama said during the campaign that he thought Clinton was qualified to be president, which Hoyer listed as a key quality for a running mate. Hoyer noted that John F. Kennedy chose Lyndon Johnson as vice president despite Johnson’s harsh criticism during the 1960 campaign.

“The presidential candidate has to be comfortable with his vice presidential candidate,” Hoyer said. “That does not mean they have to go down the aisle singing ‘Kumbaya.’ ”

{mosads}Pelosi praised the New York senator’s “eloquent knowledge, her judgment, the stamina it took to have this campaign,” but also said, “Now we have a nominee, and that’s pretty exciting.”

Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.) said putting Clinton on the ticket is one of several ways for Obama to attract Hispanic voters, white working-class voters and women disillusioned by the outcome of the nominating race.

“That’s the easy way to do it. It’s not the only way to do it,” Sanchez said. “There are constituencies right now that are not with him who should be with him. I don’t think they know that.”

Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) supports Clinton for vice president but said she thinks the idea that Clinton supporters won’t vote for Obama is overblown.

“I believe Hillary Clinton supporters are dyed-in-the-wool Democrats,” Woolsey said.

Clinton supporter Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) said she has spoken with both Clinton and Obama and that the former first lady deserves time to herself.

“She wants time to think things over, to talk things over with Sen. Obama. I’m going to give her that time and then I’ll make my moves,” Mikulski said.

Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) said the idea should be considered.

“I think she and Sen. Obama should talk about it. I think they should weigh the pros and the cons,” Lincoln said. “The ultimate idea is that they have got to win in November.”

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), a co-chairman of Obama’s campaign, said Clinton deserves time to take a breath from the campaign before uniting behind Obama. But he made it clear that Clinton is needed on board soon.

“At the appropriate moment, I hope she will do everything she can to help us,” Durbin said. “We need her and we need her husband and her supporters. That moment is of her choosing. It’s not a problem at this point. I anticipate in a reasonable period she will make this decision. But we need her help, that’s the bottom line.”

Obama supporter Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), who campaigned with him last month in Missouri, also treated Clinton gently, saying her request was “understandable.”

“She ran a tremendous battle and has shown incredible grit and determination,” McCaskill said.

“With the math as difficult as it was, she got up every day with a smile on her face and acted like this thing was within her grasp. It was tough every single day, and I’m in awe of what she did. So all of us give her a very wide berth to take a few days or however long it takes her until she can sit down with Sen. Obama and figure out a way to move forward.”

And on Wednesday morning Black Entertainment Television founder and Clinton supporter Bob Johnson started a campaign to pressure Obama into selecting Clinton for the No. 2 spot.

He wrote a letter to House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), the highest-ranking African-American in Congress, urging him to get the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) to push Obama to pick Clinton for the ticket.

“We need to have the certainty of winning — and I believe without question that Barack Obama as president and Hillary Clinton as vice president bring that certainty to the ticket,” Johnson wrote.

His letter did not get a friendly reception on Capitol Hill. One CBC member noted that Johnson hasn’t shown much support for CBC members in the past.

“I looked at my FEC reports and I didn’t see one contribution from Bob Johnson,” the member said.

Clyburn said he considered Johnson’s message “a letter from a personal friend.”

“Just because he has influence with me doesn’t mean I do what he says,” Clyburn said. “We all should give Barack Obama a chance to do what needs to be done.”

The idea of Clinton as vice president was under active consideration by the Black Caucus even before Johnson’s letter became public.

Late Tuesday evening, Reps. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.), Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) and Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), who’d supported Clinton fervently, huddled in the House chamber to discuss Clinton as vice president.

“We talked about her future and the possibility of her becoming the next vice president,” Towns said.

There has been much speculation as to whether Clinton staying in the race would create a rift between Democrats. Clarke, however, believes that last night, “any misgivings we [had began] to heal.”

Clinton had a conference call with her superdelegate supporters in Congress on Wednesday afternoon. She told them the vice presidential selection was up to Obama and she wouldn’t lobby for the job. But, noted one participant, “She didn’t tell us not to.”

Jared Allen, Mike Soraghan and Rebecca Brown contributed to this article.