This is what victory looks like:
Obama, increasingly looking like the Democratic presidential nominee, strode into the House chamber just before 11 a.m. as the House was beginning a series of votes. Obama, who was greeted with hugs and backslaps, slipped in the side door along with what appeared to be only his security detail.
“I wanted to see what’s going on over here,” Obama, wearing a broad smile, told reporters. “I hear there’s a lot of action on this side.”
He spoke to uncommitted superdelegates as well as supporters of his rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) He was also seen speaking to Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), who is neutral in the race. And he talked at length to Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), an uncommitted superdelegate.
The Democratic frontrunner spoke with Clinton supporters Reps. John Murtha (Pa.) and Bill Pascrell (N.J.), as well as Reps. Chris Van Hollen (Md.) and John Spratt (S.C.), who are both uncommitted.
Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), a Clinton supporter, got Obama to sign a copy of today’s New York Daily News with the headline: “It’s His Party.”
He also talked with Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.), a Clinton supporter whose district voted for Obama. But those votes have not been counted in the Democratic primary because Florida defied the party rules in scheduling its primary.
“I was teasing, as everyone was. I said, ‘Do you want me to kiss the ring now, or when you come to Florida,’” Hastings said. “He said, ‘Take your time.’ I said, ‘I will take my time, because you do need to come to Florida,’” Hastings related later. “I didn’t get to say what I wanted to say, which is that he could just say right now, ‘Seat the Florida delegation.’”
Even Republicans were not immune. Rep. Chip Pickering (R-Miss.) brought his children over to say hello. Obama also spoke with Republican Reps. David Dreier (Calif.) and Jerry Lewis (Calif.). Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) came running after him, and Rep. Barbara Cubin (R-Wyo.) came over to chat.
He spent about 40 minutes speaking to lawmakers. After he exited the floor, Obama said the goal is to “bring the party together as soon as possible.”
He also told reporters also told reporters that he expects to lose the upcoming primaries in West Virginia and Kentucky to Clinton.
I’m just waiting for a big announcement about a big bloc of superdelegates that will finish off the last delusional hope that the math can work for Hillary Clinton. And then I don’t want to hear from Bill and Hill again. They can go hang out with Ed Koch and nurse their bitterness.
