Party Unity, My A**

For openers, anyone on HillWatch (and if you didn’t catch that reference, you aren’t watching AskAB) needs to read Maureen Dowd’s latest, in which John McCain and Hillary Clinton down vodka shots in a Capitol hideaway together, discussing their Take Down Obama plan. It is hilarious, most especially since Jesse Jackson (that would be the reverend, not his son) makes an appearance at the end.

Moving on, you may have read that Team Hillary has assembled a “whip” team to blanket the convention floor, preventing any mischief from the overzealous Hillary supporters. They plan to hold up Obama signs if any kazoo-playing or hollering goes on that might embarrass the party’s nominee. No word yet on whether the whip team will be assigned to Bill; after all, the former president is speaking, and Team Hillary has proven incapable of containing him in the past. Certainly the whip team will be covering groups like PUMA (Party Unity My Ass), whose members pledge they won’t support Obama under any circumstances.

Whether she runs in 2012 or not, this is partly Hillary’s convention. That is abundantly clear. All three Clintons are speaking, Hillary’s name is being placed in nomination and there will be lots of catharsis. Any future run depends on her performance in Denver, and she plans to be on her best behavior, releasing her delegates at the last minute and voting for Obama herself. Party unity and all that.

But speaking of party unity, a report in a Pennsylvania paper raises an interesting question — does Hillary encourage (or does she ignore) her allies and relatives supporting McCain? One of her brothers and some of her close supporters were included at a gathering recently with a top McCain surrogate who is wooing Hillary voters to support McCain.

The Scranton Times-Tribune reported this: “The private gathering featured Carly Fiorina, Mr. McCain’s top economic adviser, and took place at the Dunmore home of political consultant Jamie Brazil, a longtime friend of Mrs. Clinton’s family who has signed on as paid national director of Mr. McCain’s Citizens for McCain Coalition.
“The attendees included Tony Rodham, Mrs. Clinton’s youngest sibling, his wife, Megan, and their two children; attorney Kathleen Granahan Kane, who coordinated Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign in Northeast Pennsylvania during the primary election; and Virginia McGregor, sister of Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty.”

Sounds like Party Unity My Ass to me.

WILL BILL STAY ON MESSAGE OR PULL A FAST ONE WEDNESDAY? Write to me at askab@digital-stage.thehill.com. The video returns next Friday, Aug. 29, as we wrap Denver. I look forward to hearing from you.