The Secret Friendship of Hillary Clinton and John McCain.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Oh, this is impressively good.

The secret friendship of Hillary Clinton and John McCain

It's one of those things that sneaks up on you in politics, a sense of things happening not quite as you expected. It started in April when our Times colleague Louise Roug called with a quote from Sen. Hillary Clinton.

She'd shaken hands at a factory gate in Toledo, Ohio, then before flying to Texas held a mediaSenators John McCain and Hillary Clinton who've quietly become good friends availability where she said: "Sen. McCain brings a lifetime of experience to the campaign. I bring a lifetime of experience. And Sen. Obama brings a speech he gave in 2002."

A pretty good zinger that got Clinton into the day's news flow while her plane was airborne to an Austin rally.

But why would the Democratic candidate mention the Republican at all? Let alone in a positive way as qualified to be president in comparison to a fellow Democrat?

That thought quickly passed in the flood of primaries and news.

But then in the final weeks of the primary season, as the inevitable delegate math closed in on Clinton, she attacked Obama, of course. He was ahead. And she clearly didn't want four more years of President Bush. McCain, already running for the general election, attacked Obama. And Obama fired back at the Republican.

But neither Clinton nor McCain fired at each other.

Then after the last night of primary ballot-counting Clinton and Obama spoke briefly about the other. McCain uttered one sentence....

...about Obama.

And then the Arizona Republican said this about the wife of the only Democrat to be elected twice since FDR: "Sen. Clinton has earned great respect for her tenacity and courage. The media often overlooked how compassionately she spoke to the concerns and dreams of millions of Americans, and she deserves a lot more appreciation than she sometimes received.

"As the father of three daughters, I owe her a debt for inspiring millions of women to believe there is no opportunity in this great country beyond their reach. I am proud to call her my friend."

And then a week ago this morning it became clear the Democratic party was forcing Clinton to end her bid. Saturday Obama went golfing. Clinton and her family dressed as if for a funeral and went to thank their supporters with a grateful speech and on paper a hearty, full endorsement of Obama.

But something was missing. Not one word in the speech about the Republican nominee that Obama must now confront for the White House.

As she was speaking, the McCain campaign's new website blog, The McCain Report, posted a special tribute to the losing Democratic candidate, familiarly headlined "Hillary Out," something the Obama campaign didn't fully match for two days.

"Sen. Clinton has really grown on us," McCain blogger Michael Goldfarb wrote. "She ran an impressive campaign...an impressive candidate...inspired a generation of women...Sen. Clinton also didn't mention John McCain once during her speech. This came as something of a surprise over here, and a pleasant one at that. But it's clear that John McCain and Hillary Clinton respect each other -- and there is a genuine affection for her here at McCain HQ."

The blog post included a photo of McCain and Clinton together on a ship in the Arctic during one of their several journeys as members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. These things do not happen on official campaign websites spontaneously or by accident. Nor does the enemy get accidentally omitted from a major speech.

So The Ticket called a bunch of people who know both McCain and Clinton. It's true, they confirmed, there is a special friendship between them. And it apparently started in January of 2001, when Clinton became the first former first lady elected to public office and walked into the U.S. Senate.

It has always been a gentlemen's club, if not always populated by gentlemen. And the warmth toward Clinton was missing. Until McCain walked up and heartily welcomed the newcomer and showed her around. "They really hit it off," said one friend.

Senators John McCain and Hillary Clinton both members of the Senate Armed Services Committee on an Arctic trip

They shared many things including a candid tongue. Both also have at times been at odds with their own parties. They found they could work together across the aisle as committee members and enjoyed each other's company on factfinding trips around the world. In Estonia, according to one famous tale, Clinton challenged McCain to a vodka shot-drinking contest, which he readily accepted.

Later, McCain remarked to friends "she was one of the guys," a high compliment among guys.

Learning about their unexpected friendship got us thinking about a few things. What if McCain and Clinton, both their party's frontrunners a year ago today, ended up confronting in the general election? Would we have seen a more civil campaign for a change?

According to several sources, including The Atlantic's respected Marc Ambinder, McCain came within a breath of publicly promising last year that his would be a one-term presidency. Aides convinced him it was an unnecessary chip to discard then.

Meanwhile, Clinton appears to be delivering early on her commitment to help Obama, steering her financial supporters to assist him in recent days, though some demur.

She's promised "to do all that I can" to help ensure his election, which sounds good but is practically hard to define. There will be some grand unity event soon. And at the Denver convention. But we'll see about the fall come fall.

The fact is, many of her 18 million supporters may not go for Obama. Wouldn't it be an amazing end scenario to an amazing political season if the working class supporters, especially women, of the Clinton so many Republicans love to hate help elect the GOP senator from Arizona that so many Republicans have their own doubts about?

Such a Republican win, even a narrow one, as unlikely as it seems right now, would erase the present presidential hopes of the usurper Obama and could clear the way in the Democratic party for 2012 for another try by that same Clinton, who'll only be 64 then.

--Andrew Malcolm

And doesn't surprise me at all.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

An interesting possibility is if McCain has a gentleman's agreement to step down in 2012 due to his age, leaving an open field for Hillary to run again. Rather more plausible than proposals that Hillary plans to have Obama assassinated.

[SirNitram]

Explains Mark Penn and how he was making money off both campaigns.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

It's brilliant, really. Hillary Clinton sabotages Obama, then waits four years, announces her candidacy in 2012. McCain waits until the very last minute and then announces that due to age-related health concerns, he won't run, causing mass confusion in the Republican party, and then using that as justification to endorse Clinton. Who cares about political parties? It's the best chance for both of them to have their turns as President, and nothing else matters except being at the top, does it? This like this have happened before, like a period in Portuguese history in which the two political parties had reached an arrangement by which they'd alternate control of the government.

[Ziggy Stardust]

Got a tin foil hat to go with that theory?

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Got a tin foil hat to go with that theory?

I don't seriously believe it, but it's a brilliant plan.

[CaptainChewbacca]

Got a tin foil hat to go with that theory?

I don't seriously believe it, but it's a brilliant plan.

There's a certain part of me that always hopes the brilliant, way-out plan is real and will pay off, becaus eI really want to see something like that.

[CaptainZoidberg]

What's to stop McCain from just running again in 2012 instead of stepping down for Hillary? What would she be able to do to make him stick to his secret deal?

And how at this point can Hillary sabotage Obama without making herself look like (more of) a selfish idiot? It's not like she can run out and tell people to vote for McCain.

[SirNitram]

I think he'll be pushing 80. And remember, he's disabled and has had bouts with cancer. There's something called lifespan.

[MKSheppard]

McCain/Clinton '08!

[CaptainZoidberg]

I think he'll be pushing 80. And remember, he's disabled and has had bouts with cancer. There's something called lifespan.

Well, alternatively couldn't he just screw her and push for another conservative. The point remains - McCain has no motive in this conspiracy to keep up his side of the bargain.

[Pelranius]

Maybe I'll pass this along to one of my friends, who happens to be a Clinton delegate. It'd be nice if I could get her to change her mind.

Though chances are that she'd dismiss me as a conspiracy nut and that particular segment of my social circle would stop taking me seriously.